PHOENIX – The Utah beach volleyball team opened its final week of the regular season against the No. 16-ranked Grand Canyon Lopes Thursday night where the Utes dropped the dual, 4-1. Utah fell to 2-9 on the season, while Grand Canyon moved to 12-16 on the season.
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Picking up the lone win against the Lopes was Utah's No. 1 pairing of
Adora Anae and
Dani Barton. The pair of Utes downed Grand Canyon's No. 1 pairing of Hannah Towne and Molly Turner in straight sets (21-17, 21-18) at GCU's Beach Volleyball Stadium.
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With Thursday's win, Anae and Barton are now on a four-match winning streak and have surpassed the .500 mark on the season, moving to 6-5 as Utah's No. 1 pairing.
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The Utah beach volleyball team will head to Tucson to compete in Arizona's Bear Down Bash at the Arizona Beach Volleyball Courts. Utah will open competition tomorrow against the Benedictine-Mesa Redhawks (9-8) at 3 p.m. MT, and then will play the No. 14-ranked Arizona Wildcats (17-10) Friday evening at 7 p.m. MT.
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#16 Grand Canyon 4, Utah 1
1.Â
Adora Anae/
Dani Barton (Utah) def. Hannah Towne/Molly Turner (GCU), 21-17, 21-18
2. Bella Bauman/Jessica Stansfield (GCU) def.
Tawnee Luafalemana/
Melissa Powell (Utah), 21-16, 21-17
3. Madi Relaz/Katie Pyles (GCU) def.Â
Berkeley Oblad/
Bailey Choy (Utah), 21-15, 21-18
4. Katie Sarber/Natalie Honzovicova (GCU) def.
Brianna Doehrmann/
Kenzie Koerber (Utah), 21-9, 23-21
5. Jessica Clark/Jamie Walsh (GCU) def.
Alexa Van Komen/
Lauga Gauta(Utah), 21-17, 21-14