Lopes begin WAC second half in GCU Arena

Thursday, October 19

Phoenix, Ariz.

6:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Chicago State

Photo by: Chris Hook

10/17/2017 9:59:00 AM | Volleyball

By: Mark Oshidari


Grand Canyon Lopes (5-14, 0-7 WAC)	vs	Chicago State Cougars (10-13, 1-6 WAC)	Kansas City Roos (7-13, 3-4 WAC)
		Thur, Oct. 19 at 6 p.m. MST	Sat, Oct. 21 at 12 p.m. MST
GCU Match Notes		Live Stats Live Video	Live Stats Live Video

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team begins the second half of Western Athletic Conference play hosting five of the final seven matches. This week the Lopes host Chicago State on Thursday night and UMKC on Saturday afternoon.

GCU played some of its best play of the conference season last week, falling on the road at UTRGV in five sets and at NM State in four sets. The two opponents played in the WAC Tournament championship game last season.

GCU is led by Claire Kovensky with 3.20 kills per set and Teagan DeFalco with 2.70 kills per set. Maria Adams leads GCU with 1.01 blocks per set and Emma Ahern has a team-high 4.25 digs per set.

With 14 kills last week, Natalie Tardy enters the week with 947 career kills. She is trying to become the fifth Lope ever to record 1000 kills and first against DI competition.

Earlier this season, Chicago State defeated GCU in four sets in Chicago. CSU has lost six straight since that match, including being taken in straight sets in five of those six.

Lauryn Dela Cruz leads CSU with 4.33 kills per set. Carmen Carvajal is next on the team with 3.44 kills per set. Megan Klavitter has a team-high 4.67 digs per set, while Alexandria Cliff leads the Cougars with 0.74 blocks per set.

UMKC has three conference wins, defeating GCU, Chicago State and Seattle. Last week the Roos defeated Seattle and lost to Utah Valley in four sets.

Alicia Harrington leads UMKC with 3.33 kills per set. Alex Ratzlaff and Mykal Sadler each average 2.27 kills per set. Sadler has a team-high 0.99 blocks per set and Rhegan Spiegel has a team-high 4.19 digs per set.

After this week, the Lopes will head out on their final WAC road trip of the year, making the trip to Seattle and Utah Valley.