Lopes learn hard way to open WAC

Thursday, September 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-6, 0-1WAC

Kansas City

10-5, 1-0WAC

Kansas City

Grand Canyon

9/20/2018 9:23:00 PM | Women's Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score

Kansas City takes 4-set victory at GCU Arena

By: <a href="http://gculopes.com/index.aspx?path=coro">Paul Coro</a>

Sometimes you win, sometimes you learn.

With a team starting three freshmen and three sophomores, Grand Canyon women's volleyball will have nights in September that will not resemble what experience can make them look like in November. The Lopes opened WAC play Thursday night with a four-set loss to Kansas City at GCU Arena, where youthful nerves had GCU playing out of holes and missing out on turning points.

The Roos (10-5) won 25-15, 26-28, 25-22, 25-18 with a starting lineup dominated by upperclassmen and an aggressive style they could implement by playing with leads. Outside of the set GCU won, the Lopes never held a lead past their second point of any of the other three sets.

"I think it has to do with youth and kids understanding how to be ready on the first play and that they don't get to work their way into it," GCU head coach Tim Nollan said. "It's going to be a lesson we have to learn. They have to grow up and learn quickly.

"We like to say that we always win. We either win on scoreboard. If we get beat, we learn from it and don't get beat that way any more."

When the Lopes (7-6) found freshmen middle blockers Annabelle Kubinski and Kaira Moss, it often clicked with each registering 11 kills in the match. But as a team, GCU hit .146 for its second-lowest hitting performance since opening night.

"We struggled passing the ball so we had a hard time getting them (Kubinski and Moss) the ball," Nollan said. "That put a lot of pressure on our other kids to score and put us in situations we didn't feel very comfortable in."

UMKC closed out the first set with seven unanswered points but GCU responded well to play from in front for most of the second set. Even when the Roos staved off three set points, the Lopes showed resolve with senior outside hitter Meme Fletcher's tough-angle hit earning GCU a fourth set point that freshman outside hitter K.J. Adams finished.

"In the second set, everyone had the mentality that we were playing for each other and we didn't care who's playing on the floor as long as we get the win," Moss said. "Our team came together."

In the critical third set that swung match momentum, GCU took a 2-1 edge but never led in the match again. The Lopes only had one run of more than two points but remained in position to take the set after a Moss kill evened the score at 21-21. From there, GCU only scored on a UMKC missed serve and the Roos won the third set on an ace.

UMKC thrived in the fourth set off a strong service game and aggressive attacks on GCU's passers. Adams made an amazing dig to set up a Lopes point off Fletcher's hit, cutting the Roos' lead to 16-14. But that was as close as GCU would get with UMKC claiming nine of the match's final 13 points.

"Both teams experienced some nerves in the first conference match," Roos head coach Christi Posey said. "GCU is so young. They will continue to get better and better under Tim's leadership. We just tried to put pressure on them as much as we could. It was well-contested but we just made plays down the stretch. They are young, athletic and talented so we were relieved and excited about the win."

The Lopes will take the lessons to the practice court for a week to get ready for a trip to the WAC's projected top teams – UT Rio Grande Valley and New Mexico State.

Follow Paul Coro on Twitter: @paulcoro.