#11 Arizona State vs #18 GCU 3-1-2025 BVB
Dear Readers~
Welcome to the next blog covering the 2025 NCAA Division 1 Beach Volleyball season. For those who don't know, the previous blog covered the matchup between USC and UCLA at the Outrigger Duke Kahanamoku Beach Classic that took place in Honolulu, Hawaii towards the end of February. I did include some special information at the end of that blog for those who don't know the coaching staff of USC or UCLA. Today's blog covers the game between Arizona State and GCU (Grand Canyon University) that took place on Saturday March 1st at the Cactus Classic in Tucson, Arizona, where the University of Arizona plays. For those who don't know, Arizona State is in Tempe, Arizona while GCU is in Phoenix, Arizona. Tempe is 113 miles while Phoenix is 123 miles from Tucson respectively, even though Tempe is part of the Phoenix metro. Now with the geography lesson complete, let's get into the beach volleyball match up between Arizona State and GCU at the University of Arizona hosted Cactus Classic in Tucson.
The way the NCAA has their beach volleyball games is by having each team compete using their top 5 pairs numbered 1 through 5 based on how that pair is ranked on their team. The number your pair is at your school tells you the pair number you'll play against from your opponent's school. Like the pros, the first two sets play first team to 21 while the third set plays first to 15. Both sets (all three if applicable) require a 2-point advantage in order to win that set. Going into this match up, Arizona State was 4-5 for the season, as well as 3-0 at the Cactus Classic, while GCU was 7-0 for the season, as well as 3-0 for the Cactus Classic. Will GCU stay undefeated for the season or will Arizona State hand GCU their first loss of the year an go undefeated in Tucson? Let's get into the game to find out.
With going into the matchup 3-0, Arizona State and GCU were both victorious against Stetson, Boise State, and the host, Arizona, so let's get into the matchup between GCU and Arizona State. The order I've put them is the order in which the games finished so up first is the 1's (or top team from each school), since they were the first to finish, which has Danielle Kensinger and Ava Williamson, for Arizona State, taking on Katie Keefe and Rhea Kohl, for GCU. This game ended 21-15 and 21-14, both in favor of Arizona State, giving them a 1-0 lead over GCU. The second game to finish was the 5's (or the 5th best pair on each team) which had Zoe Taylor and Kendall Whitmarsh, for Arizona State, taking on Madi Bogle and Regan Holmer, for GCU. Those sets ended at 21-18 and 21-14, both in favor of Arizona State and giving them a 2-0 lead over GCU. The third team to finish was the 2's (or the second-best pair on each team) which had Anya Pemberton and Olivia McElroy, for Arizona State, taking on Adriana Ferro and Ines Piret, for GCU. Those sets ended at 22-20 (don't forget about that 2 point rule needed to win) and 21-19, both in favor of Arizona State and giving them the 3 wins needed to beat GCU but for fun let's see how the 4's and 3's did. Up next is the 4's (or the 4th best pair of each team) which had Karyn Garrow and Sophia Hladyniuk, for GCU, against Arden Besecker and Ava Haughy, for Arizona State. The first set ended at 21-11 in favor of Arizona State while the second set ended at 21-16 in favor of GCU and causing a third set to occur. That third set ended at 17-15 (remember that the third set only goes to 15 but every set requires a minimum of a two point lead to win that set) in favor of GCU and giving them one win over Arizona State. The last team to finish was the 3's (or the third best team) which has Becca and Jessica Drake, of GCU, taking on Tori Clement and Ava Kirunchyk, of Arizona State. This final game ended at 21-19 in favor of Arizona State and 21-18 in favor of GCU, leading to the second third set of the matchup. The third set would end at 15-10, in favor of GCU. In the end, Arizona State would beat GCU 3-2 and give GCU their first loss of the 2025 season. With this being the last game of the Cactus Classic, GCU would end it 3-1 while Arizona State would end it 4-0.
Up next for GCU is the MPSF (Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) Mid-Season held in Stanford, California against USC, UC Berkeley, Oregon, and UCLA while Arizona State's next match is in their hometown in Tempe, Arizona as they host the Sun Devil Classic against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Coastal Carolina, and Cal Poly.
That concludes this blog covering the matchup between Arizona State and GCU at the Cactus Classic in Tucson. Stay tuned for the next blog covering more NCAA Division 1 Beach Volleyball and until next time, Miller out
~J. Miller
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