Lopes finish season with senior night win

Thursday, November 17

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-21

Benedictine

20-8

Benedictine

Grand Canyon

11/17/2016 6:08:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

PHOENIX - Behind a game-high 14 kills from Jordyn Sanchez, Grand Canyon finished the 2016 campaign with a three-set sweep over Benedictine at Mesa on Thursday night in Antelope Gym. The Lopes won by set scores of 25-17, 25-9 and 25-14.

"I was very proud of our effort on the floor on Senior Night," said head coach Tim Nollan. "We had contributions from each of the five seniors who finished up their careers. Heidi (Carpenter) did a great job of distributing to mulitple attackers. We did a great job from the service line. Chloe, Leigh, Gracie, Sara and Emily will all be missed here at GCU. They helped lead to lay the foundation for our program as we rise up for the 2017 season when we are postseason eligible. This was a great day for the team, program and seniors."

Prior to the game, the team's five seniors were honored. Chloe Jenkins, Leigh Stonerook, Gracie Dimond, Sara Westerman and Emily Christensen were recognized for their contributions to the GCU women's volleyball program in their final game as a Lope. All five seniors were given the opportunity to start in their final contest.

Grand Canyon started the match on fire after surrendering the game's first point, going on a 9-1 run to seize control of the first set. Sanchez and Westerman paced the Lopes with three early kills. The Redhawks would not go down without a fight, using a 7-2 run in the middle of the set to pull as close as seven. The Lopes restored order, however, with Westerman's fourth kill putting an end to the set, 25-17, in favor of Grand Canyon.

After the Lopes jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the second set, Benedictine settled in for a stretch of back-and-forth scoring. But a close 12-8 score was transformed into a blowout as Grand Canyon hit its stride, closing out the second set by scoring 13 of the final 14 points to claim a 25-9 win. After a team-leading six kills in the opening set, Sanchez added seven more kills in GCU's defeat of the Redhawks.

The Redhawks put their best effort of the evening together in the third set, using a stretch of three consecutive points to take an early 6-4 lead. While the third set was tightly-contested in the beginning stages, the Lopes strung together consecutive point streaks of as many as six to take control. GCU scored 10 of the game's final 12 points to secure the win.

Behind Sanchez's 14 kills, Stonerook finished with nine on the night. Westerman led the Lopes with 13 kills, while Carpenter recorded 30 assists.

Grand Canyon wrapped up head coach Tim Nollan's first season at the helm of GCU women's volleyball, looking to rebuild the program as it begins its foray into NCAA Division I postseason eligibility next fall.