GCU Opens Season With Win Over No. 17 UC San Diego

Friday, August 31

GCU Arena

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Colorado-Colorado Springs

8/31/2012 4:02:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Antelopes Go 2-0 During First Day of Invitational

Grand Canyon opened the Holiday Inn GCU Invitational with two wins at GCU Arena Friday,

including a 3-1 victory over No. 17 UC San Diego.

The Antelopes (2-0) beat Colorado-Colorado Springs 3-0 earlier in the day.

In the 25-20, 22-25, 25-12, 28-26 win over the Tritons, senior outside hitter Janae Giles hit .383 on 47 attempts, getting a match-high 19 kills, her career-best at GCU. Sophomore outside hitter Megan Davis added 16 kills and hit .359 on 39 swings. Junior middle blocker Kristen Johannsen had 13 kills, a career-high, and a .379 average on 29 tries.

Senior setter Kristen Preach had 54 assists and 15 digs. Sophomore libero Mackenzie Phelps had 39 digs.

GCU hit .270 as a team. Johannsen and Davis each had four block assists.

The win avenged last year’s loss to the Tritons in the NCAA West Regional quarterfinals, GCU’s only loss in its last 17 matches (including the two Friday).

"Since Day 1, this group has exceeded expectations and my expectations are high," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "Today was a perfect example of what they can do when they're disciplined and do things the right way."

The Antelopes took control in the third set. Tied 1-1 in sets and 7-7 in third, GCU scored the next six points. Four came on Triton attack errors. Johannsen added a kill and also combined with Preach on a block.

With the score 14-10, GCU ran off 10 straight. Giles had four kills during the flurry and Davis added three more. Preach had a kill and a service ace.

"We can enjoy this until tomorrow," said Naber. We'll have to come back hungrier."

The Antelopes take on Central Washington at 2 p.m. and No. 3 CSU San Bernardino, last year's NCAA Division II runner-up, at 7 p.m. Both matches are at the arena.

In the opener over UCCS, GCU won by set scores of 25-18, 25-18, 25-22.

Giles and Davis each had 12 kills. Davis had a double-double, adding 13 digs. Junior Lanie Muys had seven kills and seven blocks, including one solo. Phelps led in digs with 16. Preach stuffed the stat sheet with 33 assists, seven digs, four blocks and five kills.

"I'm excited how the season started," added Naber. "We have goals set and it's baby steps we need to accomplish to get where we want to be at the end of the season."

GCU 3, UCCS 0
GCU 3, UCSD 1