GCU Gets Two Wins, First WAC Victory

Friday, September 19

Chicago, IL

8 a.m.

Grand Canyon

8-3, 1-0WAC

Chicago State

5-7, 0-1WAC

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

Hayleigh Friemoth had 11 kills, 15 digs and three aces in Friday's WAC opening win at Chicago State.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

9/19/2014 5:04:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Grand Canyon went 2-0 and picked up its first Western Athletic Conference victory at Chicago State Friday.

The Antelopes (9-3, 1-0) opened the morning with a 3-2 (21-25, 25-18, 25-18, 23-25, 15-7) victory over Chicago State and followed it up with a 3-0 (25-12, 25-15, 25-20) non-conference win over UMass-Lowell, as part of the Chicago State Tournament.

"I'm proud of this group for being disciplined and unified in our first conference win," said GCU coach Kris Naber, after the win over CSU. "We are constantly asking them to make adjustments and buy into what our staff is expecting them to do and they continually respond."

Against Chicago State (5-7, 0-1), seniors Hayleigh Friemoth and Shannon Dugan and sophomore setter Michelle Steagall led the way. Friemoth had 11 kills, 15 digs and three service aces. Dugan had a match-best 14 kills and added 12 digs and three block assists. Steagall recorded the team's third double-double with 37 assists and 11 digs, in four sets. She also added four block assists.

At 4-4 in the fifth, freshman middle hitter Hannah Hicks had a kill to start a 3-0 run and the Antelopes never lost the lead. GCU did not have an attack error in the fifth and hit .409. Dugan and Hannah Hankins each had three kills in the set.

"The fifth set was all about composure and doing the little things right," said Naber.

Friemoth had six kills and a service ace in the third, leading GCU to a 2-1 advantage. The Lopes had a season-high eight service aces. Along with Friemoth's three, Emily Vitel had two. Mackenzie Phelps, Steagall and Hankins each had one.

Hankins and Megan Byrnes had nine kills each. Hankins hit .600 (9-0-15) and added three digs and four block assists. Byrnes hit .400 (9-1-20). Hicks had five block assists. Phelps had 14 digs.

The Antelopes hit .414 in the second set with 14 kills and only two errors on 29 swings. Friemoth and Byrnes had four kills each.

Against the RedHawks (1-11), GCU hit a season-best .271, led by frosh Natalie Tardy with 13 kills and a .417 average. Byrnes added seven kills and hit .500 without an error. She also led in blocks with six, including two solos. Phelps and Friemoth had 18 and 13 digs, respectively. Hicks added four blocks with two solos.

"The girls gave a perfect effort from start to finish," said Naber. "We threw some different lineups in during the third set and they responded with great composure."
In her first collegiate action, freshman middle Gracie Dimond played two sets and had three block assists.

The Antelopes continue play in the Chicago State Tournament Saturday with an 8 a.m. (Arizona time) match with San Jose State and a 1 p.m. contest against South Dakota State. Live stats and video are not available, but fans can get updates on twitter at @GCU_Lopes and a complete wrap-up later in the day at www.gculopes.com.

GCU 3, CSU 2
GCU 3, UML 0