Comeback nets another 5-set win

Saturday, October 19

Riverside, Calif.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-5,7-1WAC

California Baptist

9-11,2-5WAC

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Grand Canyon	22	25	22	25	15	3
California Baptist	25	23	25	18	11	2

10/19/2019 3:57:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

GCU blocking, offense shine in Riverside

By: Sarah Woodward

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Trailing 2-1 after the third set, the Grand Canyon women's volleyball team won back-to-back sets Saturday at California Baptist for its second-straight five-set road victory in three days. The 3-2 win came with set scores of 22-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-18 and 15-11 at Van Dyne Gym.

With the victory, GCU (16-4, 6-2 WAC) remains tied for second place with Kansas City in the conference standings. The Lopes and the Roos meet again next Saturday in Phoenix after GCU claimed the first meeting in Kansas City in four sets.

After playing its fourth consecutive road game, the Lopes are 7-1 on the road this season for the program's highest away win total in its Division I era. GCU is 5-1 in five-set matches, only one of which was at home.

"This team has guts," GCU head coach Tim Nollan said. "We won ugly against a well-coached team. We had some gutty performances from a number of players. Our attacking was very efficient today, as Kaira (Moss), Sarah (Hagge) and Annabelle (Kubinski) all hit .480 or better, which is big-time."

California Baptist (9-11, 3-4) tested the Lopes in the conference matchup, but a GCU season-high 17 blocks shut the Lancers down at the net. CBU committed 34 attacking errors compared to just 13 from the Lopes, who were outserved by the Lancers 12-2 in aces.

GCU's attacking efforts saw three Lopes hit for double digits, as Kubinski led the charge with a season-high 14 kills on .684 hitting. The sophomore middle blocker added four blocks as well.

Kaira Moss, also a sophomore middle blocker, also had 14 kills on .481 hitting and led the match with nine blocks to tie her career high. Hagge, a junior opposite, tallied 13 kills on .480 hitting and added six blocks and three digs.

"Today's efforts could definitely be attributed to our blocking and front-row defense," Hagge said. "We stopped a lot of balls before they could even get to our back row and that's something to be proud of. Our attacking out of the middle and right side definitely hurt them and a lot of that comes from our passing. Everyone came together and played well and this felt like the most cohesive we've been."

Freshman Klaire Mitchell tallied the only double-double for the Lopes, as the setter recorded a team-high 50 assists and 20 digs with six kills on .545 hitting. Senior outside hitter Melody Horton added 11 digs, nine kills and a career-best three solo blocks.

In the backcourt, the pair of junior libero Teagan DeFalco and sophomore outside hitter K.J. Adams were in double digits for digs with 12 and 10, respectively.

Back-and-forth lead changes filled the first set until CBU pulled ahead to claim a 25-22 win.

GCU took its largest second-set lead at 16-9 but the Lancers tied the game, 20-20, with an 11-4 run. The Lopes held strong and evened the match with a 25-23 set win.

The Lopes and the Lancers were tied 10 times in the third set before CBU pulled ahead from a 17-17 knot to lead GCU at set point, 24-19. A 3-0 run rallied GCU but a CBU kill put the Lancers ahead 2-1 in the match.

In the largest set margin of the match, the Lopes came out on top 25-18 in the fourth set. Tied 13-13, GCU closed out the fourth with a 12-5 run.

The Lopes started the fifth set hot with a 4-0 run and never looked back, as GCU stretched the lead to 9-4 without a hitting error. CBU closed the gap to 11-9 before Hagge played a part in the next three GCU points. The Lopes closed out the 15-11 fifth set and the match on a Horton left-side kill set up by DeFalco's bump.

GCU returns home for a pair of games inside GCU Arena, as the Lopes host Chicago State on Thursday and Kansas City on Saturday.