Grand Canyon controls match, sweeps Eastern Washington

Saturday, September 3

Phoenix, Ariz.

10 a.m.

Grand Canyon

4-1

Eastern Washington

2-3

Eastern Washington

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Darryl Webb

Grand Canyon controls match, sweeps Eastern Washington

9/3/2016 11:11:00 AM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Josh Hauser

PHOENIX -- In the continuation of the GCU Tournament in Antelope Gymnasium, the Grand Canyon women's volleyball team swept Eastern Washington on Saturday morning. GCU emerged victorious by set scores of 25-20, 25-23 and 25-22 to improve to 4-1 on the season and 2-0 in the tournament.

The visiting Eagles were plagued by errors in the opening set, with 11 errors in 36 attack opportunities resulting in an .111 attack percentage. Grand Canyon took advantage of Eastern Washington's struggles, committing just one attack error of its own in the first set. The Lopes used a pair of separate four-point runs to take leads as big as seven points before settling for the five-point victory.

With a first-set victory in hand, GCU staved off a late rally by the Eagles to hold on for a 25-23 win in the second set. The Lopes took control of the match by scoring 9 of 10 points in a row, turning an early 6-5 disadvantage into a 14-7 lead. EWU came storming back late in the set, scoring six of seven points consecutively to pull within a point late. The Lopes, however, ended the Eagles' comeback opportunity with a block by Hannah Hicks and Heidi Carpenter resulting in an attack error.

The third set was a much cleaner set from both squads with the Lopes and Eagles combining to committ just seven total errors. It was also a much more tightly-contested match with neither team leading by more than four points throughout the set. Natalie Tardy put an end to the set and the match with her team-leading eighth kill of the contest.

Behind Tardy's eight kills, Randahl Powers (7) and Leigh Stonerook (6) led Grand Canyon in kills. Carpenter racked up 22 assists for GCU, while Emma Ahern finished with a match-leading 16 digs.

The Lopes look to complete a sweep of the tournament field when they match up with Cal State Fullerton later in the evening. The match is set to get underway at 7 p.m. from Antelope Gym.