Lopes edged in five set marathon at UMKC

Thursday, September 21

Kansas City, Mo.

5:00 P.M.

Grand Canyon

5-8, 0-1

UMKC

5-9. 1-0

Grand Canyon

UMKC

Photo by: Michael Rincon

9/21/2017 8:34:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

By: Mark Oshidari

KANSAS CITY – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team dropped a five-set marathon match on Thursday night 25-23, 25-23, 25-27, 17-25, 15-13 at UMKC. GCU went down 0-2 and swung the momentum but the Roos would hold off the Lopes in the nearly three-hour Western Athletic Conference opener for both squads.

"Tonight was a tough loss," said head coach Tim Nollan. "We fought very hard until the end and showed that we will not give up. It could have been easy for a team going down 0-2 both deuce sets to quit, but not this team. They kept working and competing to extend the match to five sets."

GCU held slim leads late in both the first two sets, but the home team escaped in each set. GCU turned the tables in the third set to win 27-25 and then hit at a .385 clip in the fourth set to force the decisive fifth.

In the fifth, the Lopes found themselves in a six-point deficit but battled back before ultimately falling just short 15-13.

"We gave up an early run in the fifth, and just did not have enough time to recover," said Nollan. "We won the serving, blocking and digging phases of the game which has been a focus for us. We look forward to Saturday to try and bounce back."

Natalie Tardy and Claire Kovensky led the Lopes with 14 kills apiece. As a team, GCU set a season-high in blocks with 18, easily besting its previous high of 14.

Teagan DeFalco added 10 kills and 15 digs, while Emma Ahern and Kovensky each had 17 digs. Maria Adams had eight kills and nine blocks on .400 hitting, while Hannah Hicks finished with six kills and seven blocks on .385 hitting.

Tied at 19-19 in the first set, a pair of GCU errors gave UMKC a 21-19 edge. The Lopes would score three straight after a Hicks kill, followed by a Kobie Dunn ace and UMKC error to lead 23-22 and force the Roos to use their final timeout. UMKC would hold off GCU and get a pair of key kills to hand GCU a 25-23 first set loss.

In the second set, a block by Hicks and Hagge tied the set at 6-6. After GCU took a lead, UMKC battled back to retake a 13-11 edge. The Roos would increase the lead to 17-13 before Kovensky sent down a kill to start a 5-0 run and the Lopes would move ahead 18-17. After the Lopes took a 22-21 lead, UMKC scored three straight to force set point leading 24-22. After the Lopes fought off a set point, UMKC got the final kill at 25-23.

UMKC took an early 6-3 lead in the third before the Lopes went on a small run and took a 12-8 lead after a DeFalco kill and Hicks block. GCU would hold the lead until UMKC tied it up at 19-19. Down 22-20, the Lopes got a kill from Kovensky and then a block by Adams and Kovensky to tie it at 22-22. A big block by Hagge and Adams gave GCU its first set point of the night. The third time was the charm as GCU forced a UMKC error as the Lopes took the set 27-25.

GCU started the fourth set by scoring five of the first six points. Kovensky added a kill to give the Lopes an 11-6 lead. The GCU run would continue and turn into a 15-6 advantage after three straight Tardy kills. The Lopes would lead 18-10 before UMKC put a run together to pull within 18-14 and GCU called timeout. The Roos pulled within three points but a DeFalco kill got the Lopes to 20 points first at 20-16. GCU would then cruise to the 25-17 win. GCU hit .385 in the set with 16 kills and just one error.

The fifth set went back and forth early as the Roos took the first four point lead at 7-3 before a Tardy kill ended the Roos run. GCU trailed 8-4 as the teams changed sides. Being down by six, the Lopes pulled within 13-11 after an ace by Ahern. With UMKC leading 14-11, the Lopes got a kill by DeFalco and ace by Randahl Powers to pull within 14-13. UMKC got the final kill to hold off GCU 15-13.

GCU is back in action on Saturday when it takes on Chicago State in Chicago.