Battle for top spot set for Riverside


Grand Canyon Lopes (15-4, 7-3 WAC)	at.	California Baptist Lancers (12-8, 7-3 WAC)
		Saturday, Oct. 30 1 p.m.
GCU game notes		Live video Live stats

Grand Canyon travels for the last time in the regular season with a lot on the line. The Lopes head to Riverside, California, to take on California Baptist, which they are tied for first with in the WAC West Division standings. Each team has three losses in conference play entering Saturday's match with the Lopes coming from Dixie State, Chicago State and New Mexico State while the Lancers came from GCU, Utah Valley and Dixie State.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

NO. 1 SEED: GCU and CBU are each 7-3 in conference play and are tied for the No. 1 spot in the WAC West Division.
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 teams to the Lopes at Nos. 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.

SCOUTING
CBU comes into its final home match of the season with an 12-8 overall record and 7-3 in WAC play. The Lancers, Lopes and Aggies were tied for first place in the WAC West Division before the Lancers beat New Mexico State, leaving GCU and CBU tied for first and dropping NMSU to second. The Lancers traveled to the Abilene Christian WAC pod last weekend and took on Tarleton and ACU. CBU downed Tarleton in four sets and defeated the Wildcats in five.

Graduate student Tesa Oaks leads the Lancers in most offensive categories, including kills (192), kills per set (2.91), points (210.0) and points per set (3.18). The outside hitter has played in all 19 matches and started in 13 for CBU. Fellow outside hitter Christine Graf is second to Oaks in all offensive categories except one; Graf has a team-best hitting percentage (.269). The Lancers use two setters in their rotation, Leah Pease and Hana Okuhara. Pease has a team-best 358 assists and 5.42 assists per set while Okuhara has totaled 331 assists and averages 5.02 assists per set. Junior libero Paige Johnstone leads the Lancers on the backline with 286 digs and 4.33 digs per set. She is also tied for a team-best 22 service aces with outside hitter Cassidy Dennison.

Middle blocker Chandler Gorman leads the Lancers in all things blocking. The junior has 64 blocks, including 10 solos and is averaging 1.16 blocks per set.

Last time out, the Lancers hosted NMSU when CBU and GCU were tied for first with the Aggies in the WAC West Division. CBU defeated NMSU in four sets. The Lancers dropped the opening set and then won three straight to defeat NMSU for the second time this season. Graft finished with a team-high 13 kills and a .464 hitting percentage and did not make a single error in 28 attacks.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lopes host Utah Valley in the GCU Arena on Thursday at 6 p.m.

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Players Mentioned

Teagan DeFalco

Klaire Mitchell

Grand Canyon University Athletics