GCU host Stephen F. Austin for first time

Saturday, October 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

11 a.m.

Grand Canyon

Stephen F. Austin

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10/22/2021 1:38:00 PM | Volleyball

The Lopes take on the Jacks in inner divisional play

By: Kellie Reynolds


Grand Canyon Lopes (13-4, 5-3 WAC)	vs.	Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks (14-5, 5-2 WAC)
		Saturday, Oct. 23 11 a.m.
GCU game notes		Live stats Live video

Grand Canyon hosts and takes on Stephen F. Austin for the first time ever on Saturday morning in the GCU Arena. The Lopes and Lumberjacks are at the top of their WAC divisions, with SFA tied with Sam Houston for second in the Southwest Division after both teams dropped their first match in Phoenix on Thursday night. GCU swept Sam Houston and improved to 5-3 in WAC play and improved to second place in the West division.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

RPI: The Lopes have the WAC second-best ranking in the NCAA Ratings Percentage Index, coming in at 96th while Stephen F. Austin is 69th. Sam Houston is close behind the Lopes at 102nd while Utah Valley and New Mexico State are at 112th and 113rd, respectively.
17 STRAIGHT HOME WINS: The Lopes have won 17 home matches inside the GCU Arena stating back to 2019.
WAC POD: The Lopes will play the Lumberjacks once this season before going to the WAC Tournament. GCU is one of three schools hosting WAC pods to allow teams from the West and Southwest divisions to play each other before potentially meeting in the WAC Tournament.

SCOUTING
Stephen F. Austin comes into the Saturday morning match with an 13-5 overall and 4-2 WAC record. The Lumberjacks are in a tie for second place in the Southwest division with Sam Houston after both teams dropped their opening matches at the Phoenix WAC pod.

The Jacks were picked to finish first in the Southwest Division and had two players named to the pre-season all-WAC team, senior middle blocker Taya Mitchell and sophomore outside hitter Leah Powell. Mitchell earned first team all-southland conference while Powell was picked to the second team.

Mitchell leads the Jacks in all blocking categories. She is first in blocks per set with 1.20 which is third in the WAC. The senior has a total of 65 blocks and 10 block solos for SFA. She is fifth on the team in kills with 97 and averages 1.46 kills per set. Leading the Jacks in all offensive categories is Powell. The sophomore has a team high in kills (134), kills per set (2.65,) percentage (.264), points (148), and points per set (2.90). She is also totaled 21 blocks including three block solos. Graduate student Kodi Garcia and sophomore Maddy Bourque split the setter responsibilities for SFA. Garcia has a totaled 266 assists and 5.91 assists per set while Bourque has notched 293 assists and 5.05 assists per set. Garcia also leads the team in service aces with 15 and is averaging 0.33 per set. Alyssa Ortega is the Jacks libero and in her freshman campaign she has totaled 211 digs and is averaging 4.69 digs per set. Ortega is also second in service aces for SFA with 14 and 0.31 aces per set.

The Jacks were swept by New Mexico State in their first match inside the GCU Arena. SFA was close in the first two matches with the Aggies but NMSU took the third set easily to secure the sweep.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes travel to Seattle U for a 6 p.m. match on Thursday October 28.