Lopes head to Seattle for 1st time since 2019

Thursday, October 28

Seattle, Wash.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Seattle U

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

10/27/2021 8:01:00 AM | Volleyball

GCU enters trip in tie for WAC West Division lead

By: Kellie Reynolds


Grand Canyon Lopes (14-4, 6-3 WAC)	at.	Seattle U Redhawks (4-16, 1-8 WAC)
		Thursday, Oct. 28 6 p.m.
GCU game notes		Live video Live stats

Grand Canyon travels to Seattle U for the first time since 2019. The Lopes are tied for first place in the WAC West Division with New Mexico State and California Baptist while the Redhawks are in last place.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

RPI: GCU moved up to 60th in NCAA Ratings Percentage Index after a 2-0 weekend and is the highest ranked team in the WAC. Stephen F. Austin and Sam Houston are the closest to the Lopes at 76 and 78, respectively.
NCAA RANKINGS: The Lopes rank 19th nationally in digs per set and 41st for aces per set. Graduate libero Teagan DeFalco is 14th in the nation for digs per set at 5.21 while junior setter Klaire Mitchell ranks 50th in assists per set at 10.26.
UNDER TIM NOLLAN: Since Tim Nollan became their head coach, the Lopes have turned around their all-time record with Seattle U. All six wins in the series have come under his direction.

SCOUTING
Seattle comes into the Thursday night match with a 4-16 record and 1-8 in WAC play. Most recently, the Redhawks were at the Lamar WAC pod, where they went 1-1. The Redhawks picked up their first WAC win against Lamar on Saturday in a four-set match.

Opposite hitter Sierra Bartley is a graduate student who leads the Redhawks in kills per set with 2.71. She is also first in points per set with 3.11 and hitting percentage at .265. Fellow graduate student Darian Goins averages 5.27 assists per set this season. Ezgi Ozkan is also one of the Redhawks' setters and averages 4.64 assists per set. Ozkan also has the second most service aces with 12. Kylie Waters, one of the Redhawks' defensive specialists, had a team-best 13 service aces on the season. The sophomore is also second in digs with 2.38 per set. Middle blocker Julia Queiroz has a team-best 53 blocks with 12 solo and an average of 0.83 per set. Freshman libero Katlyn Sipes is averaging 3.04 digs per set.

Last time out, the Redhawks took on new WAC opponent Lamar in Beaumont, Texas, and defeated the Cardinals in four sets. Seattle U lost the opening set but then responded with three straight wins. Bartley had a match-high 17 kills while Goins also had a match high with 22 assists while Waters added a match-high 18 digs. Seattle U was dominant on the service line, totaling nine aces to the Cardinals' five.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lopes travel to California Baptist (11-8, 6-3 WAC) for a 1 p.m. Saturday match with first-place implications.