Win streak halts in tight match

Saturday, October 5

Phoenix, Ariz.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

13-2

Utah Valley

5-10

Utah Valley

Grand Canyon

10/5/2019 7:13:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU wins 1st set, drops 3 close sets to Utah Valley

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

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team has come a long way to start Saturday tied for the fifth-highest win total in the nation and it nearly came a long way in Saturday's match to add to it.

The Lopes defeated Utah Valley in the first set but lost each of the next three sets in extra points, even after wiping out a 16-9 deficit in the fourth set to be a point away from forcing a decisive fifth set. Instead, GCU fell 25-19, 28-30, 24-26, 26-28 to snap a five-match winning streak in front of a season-best crowd of 1,610 fans at GCU Arena.

The Lopes (13-3, 3-1 WAC) remain winless in the all-time series against the Wolverines (6-10, 3-1), who are surging after suffering four early-season losses to top-25 teams. GCU was not at its best Saturday in health or execution but still was on the verge of a win Saturday when it could not capitalize on six chances to close out the second set for a 2-0 match lead.

The teams were tied 13 times in the third set before Utah Valley won after a GCU service error led to a set point. The Lopes rallied to a set point in the fourth set but another missed serve set up the Wolverines' run to close out the match.

"I was disappointed with our serving tonight because we were trying to do too much," said Lopes head coach Tim Nollan, whose team made four service errors in the fourth set. "We fell victim to trying to be the hero and trying to win the game on one play instead of playing the game we talked about and worked on. We'll watch film and show them moments where we fell victim to ourselves. Give Utah Valley credit. They scored in big moments when they needed to."

The Wolverines had a shaky first-set attack but hit nearly .300 over the final three sets with GCU at .218 for the match. Junior outside hitter Yeny Murillo led GCU with 16 kills, 11 of which came in the first two sets. Sophomore middle blocker Annabelle Kubinski was the Lopes' most efficient threat with 11 kills, one shy of her season high, on 20 attempts.

The Lopes rallied from the 16-9 hole in the fourth set with back-to-back aces by junior opposite Sarah Hagge, a scrambling point featuring a dig by senior libero Alyssa Chisholm and a block by freshman setter Klaire Mitchell and left-side attacks by sophomore outside hitter K.J. Adams.

The fight that previously rallied GCU to wins was there until the final point, when Lopes sophomore middle blocker Kaira Moss nearly re-tied the score twice with a hit and a block. GCU junior libero Teagan DeFalco made the final save of her 22-dig night before a Utah Valley block ended the match.

"This is good to ground us, if anything," DeFalco said. "Not that we ever, ever thought that we were invincible by any means but this is good for us. We know what we need to work on. We're so good at being in the practice gym and turning whatever happened in the games to practice and fixing it right away."

The Lopes will have a chance to return to the top of the WAC standings with its next games at Texas-Rio Grande Valley and New Mexico State. GCU, Utah Valley and Kansas City trail first-place New Mexico State by a half-game.

"We have to do better at our system play," Nollan said. "We still competed. The kids certainly fought hard. The crowd was great. We appreciate all the fans who came out and cheered us on and tried to will us to a win in that fourth set. We came close for you. Next time, we'll get it there. We were four points away from getting a sweep. That's the hard part to swallow. It'll make us better in the long run."