GCU Rallies Fall Short Against Bakersfield

Monday, November 18

GCU Arena

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-18, 4-11

CSU Bakersfield

19-11, 11-4

Bakersfield

Grand Canyon

Hayleigh Friemoth had a team-best 15 digs in Monday's match with Bakersfield.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

11/18/2013 10:13:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Antelopes Match Thursday With Idaho on Cox7

Grand Canyon couldn't quite get over the hump in a 3-0 loss to Bakersfield at GCU Arena Monday.

The Antelopes couldn't hold off late-set runs by the Roadrunners and lost by set scores of 25-16, 25-22, 30-28.

GCU fell to 10-18 and 4-11 in the Western Athletic Conference. Bakersfield is 19-11 and 11-4 and will be a No. 2 or No. 3 seed in next week's WAC Tournament at GCU Arena.

There were 32 ties in the match, including 17 in the third set. There were also 13 lead changes, six in the second and five in the third. It was much closer than when the teams met Nov. 9 in Bakersfield. The Roadrunners won that match 25-22, 25-9, 25-13.

"I thought we made some good lineup changes (during the match) and got some good play off the bench from Britta Forsythe and Bree Davis," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "We're trying to find the right group that mixes well together and plays with a lot of energy.

"There were a lot of positives and things we want to move forward with and things we need to change and come out stronger against Idaho (on Thursday)."

With the first set tied 13-13, Bakersfield went on a 7-0 run to take control. In the second, GCU rallied on a pair of occasions and tied the match as late as 20-20, but the Roadrunners finished off the set with five of the final seven points.

GCU answered three set points and had three of its own in the third, but after a Hannah Hankins kill tied it at 28-28, the 'Runners scored the final two points.

"In our final three matches (coming up) we have to show more consistency from the start," added Naber.

For the second straight match, Shannon Dugan led GCU in kills. She had a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs.Hayleigh Friemoth had a team-best 15 digs and two service aces. Mackenzie Phelps had 12 and is only eight away from becoming the program's first player with 1,800 digs.

In only one set, Forsythe had three kills on six attempts for a .500 hitting percentage. Lanie Muys had four block assists and Hankins had four kills and four blocks, including one solo. Setter Marilyn Agae had 17 assists and five digs. Bree Davis added six assists.

GCU welcomes Idaho Thursday at GCU Arena. The match will be televised locally on Cox7. Matt Rosen will handle the play-by-play and GCU men's volleyball coach Jeremy Price will be the match analyst.

GCU finishes the regular season with 7 p.m. matches Friday and Saturday at Antelope Gymnasium. Abilene Christian is the non-conference opponent Friday, while Incarnate Word will be the Senior Night visitors on Saturday.

Fans unable to attend the matches can follow live stats and video links at www.gculopes.com.

BAKE 3, GCU 0