Team effort tops UTRGV in Texas

Thursday, October 10

Edinburg, Texas

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-3,4-1WAC

UT Rio Grande Valley

8-11,2-3WAC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Grand Canyon	24	25	25	29	3
UT Rio Grande Valley	26	15	23	27	1

10/10/2019 9:41:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Moss breaks GCU DI career blocks record at Edinburg

By: Ally Schellhase

EDINBURG, Texas – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team beat UT Rio Grande Valley on their home court for the first time since 2013 with a four-set win Thursday night, keeping the Lopes withing striking distance of the WAC lead this week.

GCU (14-3, 4-1 WAC) topped the Vaqueros 24-26, 25-15, 25-23 and 29-27 to move to 5-0 in road matches this season. The victory also kept the Lopes tied with Kansas City for second place, just a game behind conference leader New Mexico State, where GCU will play on Saturday.

"I am proud of our team effort tonight," Lopes head coach Tim Nollan said. "We had some players step up with us being a little short-handed tonight. This is a team win and I am happy with our fighting spirit."

Sophomore middle blocker Kaira Moss tallied three solo blocks against UTRGV (8-11, 2-3), making her the new GCU Division I leader with 29 career solo blocks. Junior outside hitter Yeny Murillo led GCU with 16 kills, five of which accounted for five consecutive points late in the match. Moss added 11 kills for the match and sophomore Annabelle Kubinski tallied 10.

GCU freshman setter Klaire Mitchell contributed 44 assists while senior outside hitter Melody Horton gathered a team-best 13 digs. The Lopes outblocked the Vaqueros 13-6, making a huge impact in the match. GCU also came out on top in attacking with 59 kills and a .262 hitting percentage.

GCU held early leads in each of the first two sets but dropped the first set in extra points despite rallying from a 24-19 hole to tie at 24-24. The second set was in the hands of GCU's offense, which accumulated a .440 hitting percentage on 13 kills.

The Lopes struggled for some of the last two sets, trailing until the media timeouts switched momentum. GCU put up nine blocks in the third set to lead to a 25-23 win for a 2-1 set advantage. The Lopes trailed 22-20 until a Mitchell kill, Horton ace and the Murillo-Moss block game rallied them.

The Lopes collected three more blocks and 18 kills in the 29-27 fourth set, when GCU did not hold a lead until 17-16 after Kubinski's kill and ace. GCU trailed 26-25 but kills by Moss and junior opposite Sarah Hagge set up Horton's match-ending kill.

"This is a solid team effort," GCU sophomore outside hitter Kayla Matthews said. "We stepped in and contributed in ways that made our team dynamic and energy even stronger throughout the game. If it weren't for my teammates to help me though my recovery, I would not have been able to contribute to our team's fight tonight."

The Lopes continue their road trip on Saturday, when they play at WAC leader New Mexico State (14-3, 5-0) at noon (Phoenix time).