Lopes topple 1st-place Aggies in 5 sets

Saturday, October 16

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-4,4-3WAC

New Mexico State

14-5,5-2WAC

New Mexico St.

Grand Canyon

10/16/2021 8:18:00 PM | Women's Volleyball, Paul Coro

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GCU avenges Thursday loss by ending NMSU series streak

By: Paul Coro

Grit separates the good teams and pulls out victories like what Grand Canyon women's volleyball enjoyed Saturday night.

After losing at New Mexico State on Thursday night, dropping two of the first three sets in the rematch and never leading the fifth set until the last two points, the Lopes grinded with grit to upend the first-place Aggies in a five-set Saturday night match at GCU Arena.

In front of 1,453 fans, GCU extended its home winning streak to 16 matches by beating New Mexico State for the first time since 2014 in a 20-25, 25-21, 15-25, 25-22, 15-13 wild ride.

The fifth set was tied nine times, but the Lopes' resolve won out when they scored the match's final three points, ending on junior setter Klaire Mitchell's match- and season-high 46th assist that set up freshman outside hitter McKenzie Wise's team-

high 18th kill.

"This ranks up there with us advancing to the WAC Tournament finals in 2019," GCU head coach Tim Nollan said. "I talk to our team a lot about, if we want this to be a rivalry, we're going to have to go out and beat them. It's been one-sided. To really earn a program's respect, you've got to beat them.

"We battled. It wasn't pretty, but there were moments when it was just awesome to watch kids digging in and giving everything they can. It's certainly a notch in this program's history and I'm looking forward to hopefully a lot of signature wins in the future."

GCU (12-4, 4-3 WAC) dropped its 14th consecutive match in the series in Las Cruces, New Mexico, on Thursday night and fell behind 6-0 to open Saturday's 2 1/2-hour match. The Lopes hit below .100 in the first three sets, but managed to pull out the second set with four aces and four Wise kills.

After New Mexico State did not make an error in a lopsided third set for a 2-1 match lead, the Lopes tapped into the emotional strength that Nollan has been preaching.

"That was our grit moment," said Wise, who also had nine digs. "We never gave up. We knew that everyone was going to get a ball and do their job to terminate the ball when they needed to."

The Lopes responded by scoring the first six points of the fourth set with five kills, including two by Wise. GCU maintained the margin at 15-9 before the Aggies (14-5, 5-2 WAC) sharpened their hitting. New Mexico State pulled within two points on four occasions, but the Lopes staved off the comeback to even the match at 2-2 on Wise's set-ending kill.

Teagan DeFalco

The Aggies did not trail the fifth set until GCU took a 14-13 lead after the ninth tie. A Lopes 3-1 run, off three Wise kills, tied the match at 9-9 and no team scored consecutive points until the 3-0 finish. That GCU close included a kill by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Lifgren and Wise's match-winning kill that was made possible by graduate libero Teagan DeFalco's diving, one-handed 21st dig.

"On that last point, there was no way I was letting anything touch the floor," DeFalco said in her fifth year at GCU. "I'm putting my heart and soul into this game.

"This is why we play. The incomparable feeling of being down for five years, not beating New Mexico State every time, then having that moment and seeing that scoreboard hit 15 in the fifth set, there's nothing like it."

Four Lopes players combined for 12 kills in the final set, which started and ended with Wise kills.

"We saved our best volleyball until the fifth set, minus the (two) serving errors," Nollan said. "Eight first-ball kills is bigtime volleyball. Having 12 kills in a set to 15, that's bigtime."

Lopes junior setter Klaire Mitchell orchestrated a balanced offense with Lifgren adding 12 kills, senior middle blocker Annabelle Kubinski and freshman outside hitter Sydney Reed each tallying nine kills and junior middle blocker Hannah Eskes taking on seven kills.

Lifgren and Mitchell helped the back line with 13 and 15 digs, respectively, while DeFalco returned the favor for the offense with her passing and seven assists. Mitchell also had a memorable solo block in momentum-turning fourth set when the Aggies were rallying with three unanswered points.

Klaire Mitchell

"Hands down, Klaire's our biggest competitor," Nollan said. "She's the engine that makes this team go. Without her, quite honestly, we don't win this match."

Mitchell's work as team captain has lifted the team's play on the court and mentored a young lineup off the court. After an 11-2 start, GCU had dropped two consecutive matches before tapping into its internal belief Saturday night.

"We were talking like, 'Guys, we're so much better than we think. We can do this,' " DeFalco said. "Losing at New Mexico State, it didn't even crush our spirits to not still believe in ourselves. The biggest thing to take away from this win is how gritty this team is. We really believe in ourselves and we really love each other. That's so rare. I've played on lots of teams and nothing is like this."

After getting a postgame shower from his players' water bottles in the locker room, Nollan told them how proud he was of the way they battled after losing the third set. He said his team attacked one-on-one situations more aggressively than it had in Thursday's road loss.

"From being committed to coming here in eighth grade, that's always been the talk – let's beat New Mexico State," Wise said. "I just love it. Our team definitely showed what chemistry we have."