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9/12/2019 11:11:00 AM | Volleyball

Lopes welcome trio for GCU Invitational

By: Sarah Woodward


Grand Canyon Lopes (5-1)	vs	Eastern Washington Eagles (2-5)	UC Riverside Highlanders (3-3)	San Diego State Aztecs (4-2)
		Friday, Sept. 13 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Sept. 14 Noon (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Sept. 14 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)
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The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team looks to continue its unbeaten streak this weekend at the Gonzaga Invitational in Spokane. GCU will face two teams, Ball State and Montana, for the first time in school history, while meeting Gonzaga for the fourth time. The Lopes are looking for their first win over the Bulldogs.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

BEST START: After last weekend's 2-1 outing, the Lopes are off to their best start in Division I history at 5-1. GCU is 2-0 on the road and 3-1 in neutral territory.
MURILLO MADNESS: Junior outside hitter Yeny Murillo is pacing the Lopes offense with 82 kills to average 3.28 per contest. The transfer has proved to be an asset for the GCU defense as well with 10 blocks on the year.
IN THE WAC: The Lopes currently lead the conference as a team in hitting percentage (.253) and digs per set (15.23).

SCOUTING

EASTERN WASHINGTON began the season with a 1-2 outing at the Idaho Volleyball Classic with a win over WAC member California Baptist and losses to Cal State Fullerton and UIC. The Eagles followed with another 1-2 outing at the Drake Tournament with a win over Milwaukee and losses to Drake and Saint Louis.

Heading into this weekend's tournament, Eastern Washington traveled to Seattle and fell in three sets, 25-17, 25-22 and 27-25 to fall to 2-5 on the season. EWU is looking for improvement from last season's 8-22 overall record and 0-18 performance in Big Sky play.

This weekend will be the second meeting between GCU and Eastern Washington, as the Lopes swept the Eagles in 2016 and lead the series, 1-0.

UC RIVERSIDE opened the 2019 campaign with a 2-1 showing at the Northern Illinois Tournament with wins over SIUE and Fairleigh Dickinson and a loss to the host, NIU. The Highlanders then went 1-2 at the USF Invitational with a win over Nevada and two losses to San Francisco and Purdue Fort Wayne.

This weekend will be the first meeting between GCU and UC Riverside.

SAN DIEGO STATE began the season with a pair of 2-1 outings at both of its first tournaments, as the Aztecs downed Akron and Bryant but fell to the tournament hosts, FGCU, at the Florida Gulf Coast Classic. SDSU then beat West Virginia and Arkansas but fell to Arizona in the SDSU/USD Invitational in San Diego.

This weekend's meeting is the first for GCU and SDSU.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU went 2-1 in Spokane with wins over the host school, Gonzaga, and Montana. The Lopes fell in five sets to Ball State in the tournament opener.
Junior opposite Sarah Hagge was named to the All-Tournament team after 28 kills and six blocks on the weekend.
GCU earned its first sweep of the season in the tournament finale over the Grizzlies.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU stays at home for another tournament but moves to Antelope Gymnasium to host CSUN, Idaho and Omaha in the Grand Canyon Classic to close out non-conference play.