Completed Event: Women's Volleyball versus UT Rio Grande Valley on August 30, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 0
W Volleyball
vs UT Rio Grande Valley
W 3-0
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, September 12
Flagstaff, AZ
11 a.m.
Grand Canyon
5-2
0
at
3
Northern Arizona
7-0
1
2
3
F
Grand Canyon
18
18
18
0
Northern Arizona
25
25
25
3
GCU discusses strategy during Friday's Lumberjack Classic in Flagstaff.
Phelps Hits 2K Mark; Lopes Split With Win Over Albany
9/12/2014 6:16:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
Frosh Tardy Blasts 27 Kills In Win
Freshman Natalie Tardy had a career-best 27 kills -- the most by an Antelopes player since 2009 – in a 3-2 win over Albany and Grand Canyon (6-2) split matches at the Lumberjack Classic at Rolle Activity Center in Flagstaff, Ariz., Friday.
Against Albany, GCU won by set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11. Earlier in the day, GCU lost 3-0 to host Northern Arizona, 25-18, 25-18, 25-18.
"This was a great team victory and program victory," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "Coming off getting beat pretty badly (by NAU) and coming back just two hours later with our confidence jarred a little bit, the girls made the right adjustments to come away with the win."
Tardy hit .262 in the win. Her 27 kills were the most since Caelen Hiller had 28 in a match in 2009. The school record is 33, set by Kim Gabriel in a 2004 match.
Tardy wasn't the only one to fill the stat sheet in the win over the Danes (2-6). Senior libero Mackenzie Phelps, already the program's all-time leader in digs, went over the 2,000 mark for her career. She had a season-best 33 and has 2,019 going into tomorrow's final match, a 10 a.m. contest with UC Riverside.
"We talked before about being a unit, serving the team and being selfless, that's what she's done," said Naber of Phelps. "She's set the standard for liberos coming in."
Senior Shannon Dugan aided the cause with an impressive 21-kill, 22-dig performance. Sophomore setter Michelle Steagall joined the double-double brigade with a career-best 57 assists and 12 digs. Senior Hayleigh Friemoth and freshman Emily Vitel had 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
"The girls in the backcourt really set our offense up for success," said Naber. "Michelle did a good job distributing to our hitters. Shannon and Natalie are expected to take a lot of swings and be efficient."
Tied 3-3 in the fifth, GCU followed with the next five points. Two came on Tardy kills, two came on Albany errors and another point came on a combo block from Hannah Hankins and Megan Byrnes.
"Volleyball is a game where you're going to have errors, we did a good job coming back from them," added Naber. "We did a nice job sticking with the game plan and making adjustments."
In the first meeting between state rivals since 1993, Grand Canyon (5-2) lost to Northern Arizona (7-0) in Flagstaff, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) Friday. Tardy had 10 kills and eight digs. Dugan had nine kills. Phelps had 12 digs. Hankins had a match-best six block assists and added three kills without an error. GCU out-blocked NAU 9-6.
NAU 3, GCU 0
GCU 3, UA 2
Against Albany, GCU won by set scores of 20-25, 25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 15-11. Earlier in the day, GCU lost 3-0 to host Northern Arizona, 25-18, 25-18, 25-18.
"This was a great team victory and program victory," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "Coming off getting beat pretty badly (by NAU) and coming back just two hours later with our confidence jarred a little bit, the girls made the right adjustments to come away with the win."
Tardy hit .262 in the win. Her 27 kills were the most since Caelen Hiller had 28 in a match in 2009. The school record is 33, set by Kim Gabriel in a 2004 match.
Tardy wasn't the only one to fill the stat sheet in the win over the Danes (2-6). Senior libero Mackenzie Phelps, already the program's all-time leader in digs, went over the 2,000 mark for her career. She had a season-best 33 and has 2,019 going into tomorrow's final match, a 10 a.m. contest with UC Riverside.
"We talked before about being a unit, serving the team and being selfless, that's what she's done," said Naber of Phelps. "She's set the standard for liberos coming in."
Senior Shannon Dugan aided the cause with an impressive 21-kill, 22-dig performance. Sophomore setter Michelle Steagall joined the double-double brigade with a career-best 57 assists and 12 digs. Senior Hayleigh Friemoth and freshman Emily Vitel had 14 and 10 digs, respectively.
"The girls in the backcourt really set our offense up for success," said Naber. "Michelle did a good job distributing to our hitters. Shannon and Natalie are expected to take a lot of swings and be efficient."
Tied 3-3 in the fifth, GCU followed with the next five points. Two came on Tardy kills, two came on Albany errors and another point came on a combo block from Hannah Hankins and Megan Byrnes.
"Volleyball is a game where you're going to have errors, we did a good job coming back from them," added Naber. "We did a nice job sticking with the game plan and making adjustments."
In the first meeting between state rivals since 1993, Grand Canyon (5-2) lost to Northern Arizona (7-0) in Flagstaff, 3-0 (25-18, 25-18, 25-18) Friday. Tardy had 10 kills and eight digs. Dugan had nine kills. Phelps had 12 digs. Hankins had a match-best six block assists and added three kills without an error. GCU out-blocked NAU 9-6.
NAU 3, GCU 0
GCU 3, UA 2
Team Stats
GCU
NAU
Kills
31
44
Errors
22
19
Attempts
99
106
Hitting %
.091
.236
Points
40.0
58.0
Assists
28
42
Aces
0
8
Blocks
9.0
6.0
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
10
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
3
Aces
0
Blocks
6
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