Pomp. Circumstance. Prestige.
 
And a touch of necessary Division 1 reality.
 
After skillfully working its way to back-to-back national tournament titles as a Division 1AA member of the National Club Volleyball Federation the past few years, the Grand Canyon University Women's Club Volleyball team found it a much tougher road on the Division 1 side of the 2023 NCVF National Championships in Kansas City, Missouri, still managing to reach the finals of the Copper Bracket before falling to the University of Texas in two tough sets, 25-23, 25-23. The Lopes wound up 4-5 at the national tournament and completed their 2022-23 campaign with an overall mark of 17-12.

It was an up-and-down tournament for the Lopes, who started impressively with a straight-set sweep of North Carolina State University, but had their confidence shaken with losses to University of Nebraska, University of California (Berkeley) and conference foe (and eventual national champion) University of Southern California. After splitting the next two matches, the Lopes caught late momentum in the third and final day, knocking off Grand Valley State University and the University of Washington before losing to UT.
 
With the Lopes returning just four players from last year's championship team, and not getting the invitation from the Southern California Collegiate Volleyball League until late August to move over from the Mountain West Volleyball Conference, GCU didn't have a lot of time to get the returners, incoming freshman talent as well as two transfer athletes on the same page before the first SCCVL Tournament came around in Tempe in mid-February. Sweeping their three matches there gave them plenty of momentum for the two-day, two-tournament weekend in early March in Los Angeles, California. 
 
That is, until the Lopes' starting setter, Sydney Smith, went on the shelf just days before the California trip due to a shoulder injury.
 
"It creates chaos when you lose someone who controls the court, has a calm demeanor and is a great leader," said Lopes' Head Coach Kris Naber. "Our first day of that weekend showed the chaos because we had to figure out a new lineup without a practice, and in a new conference with higher-level teams and less of a break. We just never had a chance to take a breath and catch up."
 
As a result, the Lopes lost their first three matches – all in straight sets – in SCCVL Tournament 2 before finally getting a rhythm in a three-set win over Long Beach State University to finish the day. Suddenly, a day later in SCCVL Tournament 3, the Lopes were a new team, breezing through four matches against San Diego-area schools.
 
"We finally found a lineup and rotation that the team felt good about and was consistent in the LBSU match, so heading to Day 2, it gave us a little more confidence," said Naber. "It also put a chip on our collective shoulders that we didn't want to go 1-3 again."
 
The momentum was short-lived, though, since despite the renewed confidence – combined with the return of Smith a week before heading to the SCCVL Conference Championships – the Lopes were surprised by San Diego State University in the opening match of the tournament, losing in three sets. GCU bounced back with straight-set wins over Arizona State University and Utah Valley University to round out pool play, then dropped a three-set heartbreaker in the semifinals to the University of Southern California, going extras in the third set before falling, 16-14.
 
"The SDSU loss was a bit of a wakeup call, but we responded well," said Naber. "Leading into nationals, losing that close to USC – a higher seed – gave us momentum for nationals. It was nice to see the improvement from the first match to the second match against them."
 
In Missouri, though, the two early pool-play losses weren't something the Lopes could recover from quickly enough to reach the higher brackets in elimination-round play.
 
"Losing to Nebraska deflated us, because we had opportunities to win the match and didn't," said Naber. "We then had to turn around and play Cal, who came out firing, and we just couldn't catch up. We sensed going into the tournament that we were going to have to fight for anything we accomplished, and if you beat yourselves, you're in trouble."
 
While not the end result she hoped for, Naber saw enough resolve from the team while enduring the first season of the move up to see a young nucleus that can pay things forward in 2023-24.
 
"For the program, the move up was a great one, and for the first year, we represented well," said Naber. "The returners were ready for the next step in that challenge - not just for themselves - but for the entire program. At nationals, we got a full taste of who the top 48 teams in the nation were, and how we need to be better prepared for that. We're excited to rebuild for next year and keep the program moving forward."