Lopes Sweep SDSU in Illinois

Friday, September 15

Peoria, Ill.

1:30 P.M.

Grand Canyon

5-5

South Dakota State

1-11

Grand Canyon

South Dakota State

Photo by: Chris Hook

9/15/2017 3:22:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Mark Oshidari

PEORIA – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team swept South Dakota State 25-23, 26-24, 25-19 on Friday afternoon at the Bradley Tournament in Illinois.

"I am very proud of our kill production from this match," said head coach Tim Nollan. "We scored well in all three sets. We had some unforced errors in the first that we really focused on in the second and third. It was nice to see some new kids step up today."

GCU would use late rallies in both the first and second sets to help pull out the sweep.

Randahl Powers led GCU with 13 kills, adding a pair of blocks. Teagan DeFalco had a huge first set and finished with 11 kills and eight digs. Tressa Schuler finished with 10 kills and seven digs.

Sarah Hagge added six kills off 12 swings with no errors off the bench. Maria Adams had four blocks and four kills.

Emma Ahern had a team-high 16 digs, while Heidi Carpenter finished with 22 assists and seven digs, while Kayla Redfield added 21 assists.

"Tressa did a great job for us and Sarah had zero hitting errors which was impressive," said Nollan. "Our team always believes it can win and fighting back after being down in the second and third after 20 to win both sets was a great reward for them."

GCU started the match scoring four of the first five points after a Powers and Adams block. SDSU would score six straight points to lead 7-4. The Lopes came back to tie up the set at 11-11 after a DeFalco kill. The Jackrabbits took a 17-13 lead after a GCU attack error. Down 20-16, GCU scored four straight to tie it at 20-20 after a kill by Hicks. GCU took a 23-21 lead after a Powers kill to force SDSU to call timeout. With the scored tied at 23-23, Schuler sent down a kill, followed by a big block by Adams to lift GCU to the 25-23 win. DeFalco was huge in the set with seven kills in 10 attempts with no errors.

SDSU scored the first four points of the second set. GCU did not get within two points until a Kendall Gray service ace pulled GCU within 13-11. The Lopes pulled within one point at 17-16 after a kill by Gray, forcing the Jackrabbits to call timeout. Out of the timeout, SDSU scored three quick points to lead by four. GCU rallied again to pull within 23-22 after a Schuler kill. GCU would fight off two set points to tie the set at 24-24 after an SDSU attack error. The Lopes would get consecutive kills by DeFalco to rally for the 26-24 win.

In the third set, Powers recorded five straight kills to give the Lopes a 16-11 lead. Out of an SDSU timeout, the lead would stretch to 19-11 after a Jordyn Sanchez ace. GCU would not let SDSU closer than five points the rest of the way as the Lopes closed it out 25-19 after a kill by Hagge.

GCU will face UConn at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow morning in its second match of the Tournament. The Lopes will take on host Bradley later on Saturday.