PHOENIX— The Colorado Mesa University pairs of Addie Ritterbush and Lauren Rohlwing and Miakala Henderson and Stormi Tadlock both won a match as the Maverick beach volleyball team dropped competitive 4-1 opening-day decisions to No. 13 Grand Canyon University and the University of Arizona on Friday during GCU's Canyon Classic.
 
Ritterbush and Rohlwing were 21-18, 21-18 winners over GCU's Jessica Drake and Grace Goudy on Court 4 of the morning match.
 
The Lopes, heralded in the American Volleyball Coaches' Association Preseason Collegiate Beach Poll, won the other four matches..
 
However, four of their eight set wins were by the minimum two points.  Two of those sets went past regulation.
 
The Lopes took a 1-0 overall lead with a 21-13, 21-19 win on Court 2 before Ritterbush and Rohlwing evened the dual with their victory..

In the second wave, the Lopes won 21-10, 21-14 at No. 5 before Katie Keefe and Youna Coens scratched out a 26-24, 21-19 win over the Mavs' Emerson Deferme and Ania Swartzendruber at No. 1 to clinch the dual.
 
The Lopes also won 21-12, 23-21 at No. 3 to complete the score.
 
The Arizona Wildcats, receiving votes in the AVCA Poll, then were able to win a pair of 3-set matches in the first wave at No. 2 and 4.  They then took the first and third flights in more straight forward fashion before Henderson and Tadlock were able to outlast Sadie Moore and Brooke Boyko at No. 5 giving the Mavs their team point.  The Maverick duo won the thriller, 21-17, 10-21, 19-17.
 
Earlier, Deferme and Swartzendruber took their Court 2 match to three sets, winning the second set 23-21 after dropping the first 21-19.  Arizona's Ashlyn Zilliken, a returning All-Big 12 Conference player, and her partner Madeline Walker then won the third set, 15-11.
 
Ritterbush and Rohlwing also won the second set of their No. 4 match against Arizona's Sophia Winter and Jamie Streit.  However, the Wildcat duo won the match, 21-18, 19-21, 15-8.
 
The Mavericks will continue the tournament on Saturday taking on No. 11 Arizona State and UC Davis at 9 a.m. and 2 p.m., respectively.