Lopes come up short at NM State

Thursday, October 27

Las Cruces, N.M.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-17, 0-9WAC

New Mexico State

20-5, 10-0WAC

Grand Canyon

NM State

Photo by: Darryl Webb

10/27/2016 7:38:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Mark Oshidari

LAS CRUCES – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team put up a strong battle in the first set but New Mexico State held off the Lopes 25-23, 25-18, 25-11 on Thursday night in the Pan American Center.

Randahl Powers led the Lopes with seven kills, while Maria Adams added five kills on .625 hitting. Adams and Powers added a team-high four blocks apiece. Jordyn Sanchez and Katrice Pond added four kills apiece.

Heidi Carpenter finished with 20 assists and five digs while Sanchez added a team-high 11 digs.

The match started with the Lopes scoring three of the first four points, including a pair of kills from Randahl Powers. NMSU broke a 12-12 tie with a block and followed it up with a point to lead 14-12. A Sanchez kill triggered a 3-0 run as the Lopes led 15-14 at the media timeout. With the score tied at 17-17, NMSU scored three straight forcing the Lopes to call timeout. GCU would pull even at 22-22 after a Powers kill and block by Maria Adams and Powers. NM State would hold off GCU 25-23. Powers finished the set with a team-high four kills in the set.

NMSU scored six of the first eight points of the second set to lead by four. The Aggies would go on a 7-0 run to give the Lopes a big uphill battle. NMSU led by as many as 10 points before the Aggies won 25-18. The Aggies hit at a .394 clip in set two in the win.

In the third set, the Lopes were within 4-3 after a Sanchez kill. NM State pulled ahead 10-4 with a mini run before Hannah Hicks put down a kill to end the run. The Aggies would prove too much in the end taking the third set 25-11.

The NM State win keeps the Aggies undefeated in WAC play.

GCU is back in action on Saturday when it takes on UTRGV on the Vaqueros campus.