One of the few times that team depth was a blessing AND a curse.
 
Spending much of the day facing off against the same Sun Devil varsity players, the Grand Canyon University Bowling teams fell behind early against Arizona State University in the two programs' 7^th Annual Grudge Match and couldn't make up the ground in a 16-13 loss Saturday afternoon at Via Linda Bowling Lanes in Scottsdale. Following the removal of the bowling lanes from Thunder Alley this summer, it was the first time in the event's history that it was not was held on the GCU campus, instead utilizing ASU's home facility. It was the Sun Devils' third straight win in the series.
 
Despite the final tally, if anything, the way the tournament played out actually fortified the Lopes' braintrust's belief in how well-built the 2022-23 versions are. Because the ASU squad didn't have a women's team Saturday, the GCU Women's Bowling teams faced off against the ASU men's squads in trios and doubles Baker matches – as did the GCU Men's Bowling team. At the end of that part of the event, the Lopes led ASU, 11-10.
 
Once the tournament turned to the 5-man Team Baker matches, the Lopes' Men's JV1 and JV2 teams and Lopes' Women's team faced off against ASU Men's teams that had several of the Sun Devils' varsity players sprinkled in due to a roster much shorter than GCU's. ASU won six of the seven matches between the three sets of squads, so by the time the Lopes' Men's Varsity team took the lanes for the final matches of the day and swept ASU's varsity in all three, the deficit was too much to overcome.
 
"What that showed me was that our depth – top to bottom – was as strong as I'd hoped I'd see," said Lopes' Head Bowling Coach Ben Canfield. "That's not just something that could be an advantage when we face ASU again, but beneficial from our next tournament in California on through the season."
 
The Lopes' Men's Varsity squad now has two weeks to go over what it learned before heading west to Fresno, California, for their regular season opener:  the two-day West Coast Collegiate Championships on November 5 and 6. The next matchup for both the Lopes' Women's Bowling team and the men's JV teams will be on Wednesday, November 9 against Ottawa University in Surprise.