Comeback falls short in Bakersfield

Saturday, November 10

Bakersfield, Calif.

2 P.M.

Grand Canyon

11-14, 4-9WAC

CSU Bakersfield

13-13, 6-7WAC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Grand Canyon	23	25	15	25	6	2
CSU Bakersfield	25	20	25	14	15	3

11/10/2018 4:53:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Adams lands four aces, Lopes fall in five sets

By: Alex Nash

Grand Canyon women's volleyball's comeback effort came up short against CSU Bakersfield on Thursday night, forcing five sets but falling by scores of 23-25, 25-20, 15-25, 25-14 and 6-15.

The loss dropped GCU to 11-15 overall and 4-10 in WAC play while the Runners improved to 14-13 and 7-7.

GCU was led by freshman outside hitter Kayla Matthews for the second straight match with 12 kills and 12 digs. Opposite, Sarah Hagge added 10 kills of her own to go with five blocks. Freshman, K.J. Adams was automatic from the service line, landing four aces, a match high by two.

Sophomore libero Teagan DeFalco recorded 18 digs and sophomore setter Molly Feldmeth led GCU with 41 assists.

The Roadrunners were led by Briannah Mariner on offense with 14 kills while Mattison DeGarmo set a new school record with 10 blocks.

GCU hit at a .159 clip compared to a .219 mark from the home team. CSU Bakersfield hit .400 in the decisive fifth set.

The match was a true back-and-forth affair with each team taking every other set. After a close first set loss, GCU bounced back and responded by taking seven of the first eight points in set two. The runners got within three, the closest they would come to GCU's lead, late but Matthews and Melody Horton each landed kills to end the set and even the match.

After losing the third set, the Lopes were determined to go five and needed to respond again. Down 10-7 in the fourth set, Matthews landed a kill and the CSU Bakersfield committed two key errors to tie the set. The teams fought back to even the set at 13 but the Lopes changed the momentum quickly. Adams was at the service line for 10 straight points and landed three aces to go along with kills and blocks from Hagge and Kaira Moss to put the Lopes up 24-13. Freshman Esmee Priem added a kill to solidify the 25-14 victory.

The Runners responded themselves in the fifth by taking the set and the match with a 4-0 run to end it.

GCU will be back on the road this week as they face Seattle U on Thursday, Nov. 15 and Utah Valley on Saturday, Nov. 17 to end the regular season.