Lopes roll into home tourney

Friday, September 20

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

CSUN

Tickets

9/19/2019 9:37:00 AM | Volleyball

GCU to face CSUN, Idaho, Omaha at 2 locales

By: Sarah Woodward


Grand Canyon Lopes (8-1)	vs	CSUN Matadors (3-6)	Idaho Vandals (3-6)	Omaha Mavericks (6-5)
		Friday, Sept. 20 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Sept. 21 Noon (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Sept. 21 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats Tickets	Live Video Live Stats Tickets	Live Video Live Stats Tickets

The Grand Canyon volleyball team wraps up its nonconference season at home this weekend with the Grand Canyon Classic, as the Lopes host Cal State Northridge, Idaho and Omaha in the round robin. The first five games of the tournament will be held inside Antelope Gymnasium, while the tournament finale against Omaha will move to GCU Arena on Saturday night.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

OUR HOUSE: GCU is undefeated at home with a 3-0 record inside GCU Arena this season. The Lopes will play the first two games of the Grand Canyon Classic in Antelope Gymnasium before moving back to GCU Arena for the tournament finale.
SETS UP: Freshman setter Klaire Mitchell is establishing herself as a multi-faceted player for the Lopes. Not only is Mitchell leading in assists with 334 on the season, she's active on offense with 34 kills and a .405 hitting percentage and at the net with two solo blocks and 20 block assists.
HOT START: GCU is off to the best start in Division I program history at 8-1 and is riding a five-game win streak into this weekend's nonconference finale.

SCOUTING

CSUN began the season on a down note with a five-game losing streak, but the Matadors have been 3-1 since with wins over CSU Bakersfield, Morgan State and Portland State. CSUN was 8-20 last season and tied for seventh place in the Big West Conference.

Friday's game between GCU and CSUN is the first matchup between the programs.

IDAHO opened the 2019 season with three straight 1-2 tournament showings at home, at Portland and at UNLV. The Vandals were a power to be reckoned with in 2018, as Idaho was 23-10 and tied for first in the Big Sky. Idaho made it to the Big Sky Championship and fell to Northern Arizona, 3-0.

GCU trails Idaho in the all-time series, 0-4, and most recently lost in five sets on August 25, 2018.

OMAHA is the only other team in the Grand Canyon Classic with a winning record at 6-5, as the Mavericks opened the 2019 season with a three-game sweep of their own Omaha Challenge. UNO went on to fall to Kansas before back-to-back wins over Central Arkansas and Clemson. The Mavericks have a win over Drake as well.

The Lopes lead the all-time series 3-0, as GCU claimed the most recent meeting 3-2 on Nov. 22, 2014.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes went undefeated in the GCU Invitational with sweeps over Eastern Washington and San Diego State, along with a four-set victory over UC Riverside.
Senior outside hitter Melody Horton was named MVP of the Tournament, while junior Teagan DeFalco was Libero of the Tournament and freshman setter Klaire Mitchell was named to the All-Tournament team.
GCU tallied its program third-best team hitting percentage of .360 (40-8-89) against San Diego State on Saturday night.