4-game stretch begins Thursday

Thursday, November 7

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

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11/6/2019 11:02:00 AM | Volleyball

GCU closes out regular season inside GCU Arena

By: Sarah Woodward


Grand Canyon Lopes (20-4, 10-2 WAC)	vs	UTRGV Vaqueros (13-13, 7-5 WAC)	NMSU Aggies (21-3, 12-0 WAC)	CBU Lancers (11-14, 5-7 WAC)
		Thursday, Nov. 7 6 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Nov. 9 2 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Monday, Nov. 11 6 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats Tickets	Live Video Live Stats Tickets	Live Video Live Stats Tickets

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team opens up a four-game homestand on Thursday, as GCU will close out the regular season inside GCU Arena. The Lopes face UTRGV on Thursday in the first of three games over a five-day span, ending Monday against California Baptist. GCU ends the regular season on Saturday, Nov. 16 at Noon against CSU Bakersfield for Senior Day.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

CONFERENCE BATTLE: GCU continues to hold the second-place rank in the conference standings and is one win above the third-place team, Kansas City, who the Lopes beat twice this season.
ACES: Junior libero Teagan DeFalco leads the Lopes with 25 service aces on the season after tallying four in a single game at Seattle U.
SETS LIVE: Freshman Klaire Mitchell ranks second all-time for the Division I era in assists at 890. The setter is just 110 assists away from breaking the 1,000 assist benchmark in her first season with the Lopes.

SCOUTING

UT RIO GRANDE VALLEY currently ranks fourth in the WAC standings at 7-5 and is one of five conference teams with a .500 or above record in league play. GCU downed UTRGV in four sets on the road earlier in the season and look to claim the season sweep on Thursday. The Vaqueros were 6-8 in non-conference play with wins over Bethune-Cookman, Houston Baptist, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Maryland, Northwestern State and Texas Southern.

NEW MEXICO STATE is the only undefeated team in the WAC at 12-0 and has broken the 20-win benchmark as the Aggies are 21-3 overall. NMSU swept GCU earlier this season and have gone to five sets one time in conference play against California Baptist and one time in non-conference play against UTEP. The Aggies won both contests.

CALIFORNIA BAPTIST ranks sixth in the WAC standings at 5-7 and is the only team to bring WAC-leader New Mexico State to a five-set battle. The Lancers earned non-conference victories over Fairfield, Jackson State, Southeastern Louisiana, Gonzaga, Southern Utah, and Saint Katherine.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU went undefeated in its final road trip of the regular season with back-to-back three-set wins at Seattle U and Utah Valley.
The Lopes beat Utah Valley for the first time in program history after falling in four sets earlier in the year.
Sophomore Annabelle Kubinski averaged 2.17 blocks per set en route to earning her first-ever WAC Defensive Player of the Week nod.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes close out the regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 16 against CSU Bakersfield. GCU will honor its five seniors including Kayla Redfield, Alyssa Chisholm, Emma Ahern, Melody Horton and Maria Adams.