After narrowly missing a berth in the 5^th-place match, the Grand Canyon University Women's Water Polo team finished off the 2023-24 campaign with a dominant 11-1 victory over the University of Arizona Sunday morning at the 2024 Collegiate Water Polo Association Women's Southwest Championships in La Jolla, California. The win secured 7^th place for the Lopes in the tournament and ended their season with an overall record of 3-8.
 
The weekend began in rough but not unexpected fashion for GCU, who began the tournament with a 16-5 loss at the hands of 2^nd-seeded San Diego State University Saturday morning. GCU junior Catherine Rolon scored twice in the loss, which was nothing if not educational for the undermanned Lopes.
 
"We were ready, but this was the 2^nd-seeded team we were up against," said Lopes' Head Coach Tye Dutcher. "The goals we scored were phenomenal, and I was proud of how they played. Most of all, we learned we just need to make our shots, since we probably had 5-10 shot attempts; and need to get faster, since they crushed us on the fast breaks."
 
The Lopes were right back in the water three hours later, and showed a little of what they learned in a close 7-5 loss to UC-San Diego's 'B' team. The match was tight throughout, and Madison Kidwell led the way for the Lopes with three goals, but GCU's low roster numbers hurt them in the latter stages of the game against the deep Tritons' squad, and the Lopes withered down the stretch.
 
A night's rest proved extremely beneficial for the Lopes on Sunday, who started slow Sunday morning against U of A in the 7^th-place game but exploded in the 2^nd quarter to take command against the Wildcats. GCU's leading scorer on the season, freshman Faith Totorica, paced them with four goals in the finale.
The Lopes' top highlight, though, came when the outcome was long since decided.
 
"With 20 seconds left, Lilah Martin made an amazing steal, swam all the way to the other end, and scored her first goal of the season," said Dutcher. "Everyone on our team went nuts in celebration, which was awesome to see. I'm trying to improve what I do as a coach, and I hope the progress we showed this weekend makes them inspired as I am to improve."
 
The tournament brought Dutcher's first season at the helm of the program to a close – one that included his first stint as the women's coach in the spring after coaching the men's team in the fall (they finished 3-7-1).
 
"The beginning of this season was difficult because we were beginning a new era, and there were things that had to change," said Dutcher. "With it being the first time I had coached a women's team, I had to learn how to mix constructive criticism with encouragement. I asked for feedback from them and vice versa, which was cool to see. I tried to implement having a relationship with the Lord and fellowship together, but it wasn't until the end of the season when – unexpectedly - one of our student-athletes asked me to pray for us before the match. It was great, showed me they were listening, and showed me the Lord was there. That gives us a direction for next year."