Tardy Selected to All-Tournament Team at Nebraska Invite

Saturday, August 29

Lincoln, Neb.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

0-2

Nebraska

2-0

GCU

NEBRASKA

Tardy Selected to All-Tournament Team at Nebraska Invite

8/29/2015 8:31:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

GCU falls to Nebraska and Tulsa to close out tournament

LINCOLN, Neb. – The Grand Canyon University women's volleyball team faced a tough duo of matches today in the Nebraska Invite. They opened the day with a 3-0 loss to the Huskers, who were ranked fifth in the AVCA's preseason polls before taking on Tulsa in a 3-1 defeat.

Despite the tough losses during the tournament, GCU sophomore Natalie Tardy's performance this weekend earned her a slot on the Nebraska Invitational All-Tournament Team.

The team had a strong opening set against the home team, falling short 25-21, but Nebraska came back strong in the following sets 25-8, 25-11.
Tardy earned 14 kills, nine digs, and two blocks during the match.

"Against Nebraska, our defense really stepped up and made some great plays," said head coach Kris Naber. "Natalie had an impressive showing offensively against a top 5 team, hitting .300 for the match. To play in front of 8,000 Nebraska fans was an experience that these girls will take with them."

GCU made a comeback against Tulsa for a competitive match, narrowly dropping the first set 25-23 before snagging a 25-22 victory in the second. Tulsa followed up with another 25-23 win in the third before closing out the fourth 25-17.

"It's both exciting but heartbreaking to think that four points could have made the difference in the match against Tulsa," continued Naber. "We made some aggressive mistakes in the 20's—aggressive but nonetheless, still mistakes—and we can't give points away that late in the game, especially one that is point-for-point."

Tardy continued capitalizing on her performance from the morning's match, leading the Lopes with 17 kills and picking up 17 digs. Freshman Jordyn Sanchez picked up an additional 13 kills. GCU out-blocked the Hurricanes tallying 15 to Tulsa's 13. Six of the blocks were attributed to junior Michelle Steagall and five to sophomore Hannah Hicks.

"We're all disappointed with the overall outcome of the weekend, but we're excited to see the progress that this young group is making and looking forward to getting back home and prepare for Portland," concluded Naber.

GCU will travel to Portland, Ore., next weekend (Sept. 4-5), to take on UC Riverside, Portland, and Portland State. Their first match will be against UC Riverside at 5 p.m. on Sept. 4. A full recap as well as links to live stats will be available at www.gculopes.com.