Grand Canyon closes the regular season with Chicago State on Thursday evening. The Lopes have a lot on the line as they are currently tied with New Mexico State for first place in the WAC West Division and a share of the regular season title.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- WAC STANDINGS: The Lopes are back in a two-way tie for first place in the WAC West Division with New Mexico State as both teams are 9-4 in conference play. CBU and Chicago State however, are right on their heels with records of 8-4.
- NCAA RANKINGS: Graduate libero Teagan DeFalco ranks 11th in the nation for digs per set at 5.30 and 53rd in service aces per set with 0.42. While junior setter Klaire Mitchell ranks 43rd in assists per set at 10.42. As a team the Lopes are 22nd in digs per set with 16.91.
- TWO SENIORS: The Lopes will honor seniors Teagan DeFalco and Kayla Matthews before the start of their match with the Cougars. DeFalco has been with the program since 2017 and Matthews since 2018. Both seniros have left their mark on the GCU program and their record book.
SCOUTING
Chicago State enters the GCU Arena with a record of 16-8 and 8-4 in WAC play. The Cougars are currently tied for second in the WAC West Division with CBU. The Cougars gave the Lopes won of their four losses this season after five-sets of play in Chicago. However, Chicago State has never beaten the Lopes in Phoenix.
Redshirt sophomore Yanlis Feliz leads the WAC and Chicago State in kills and kills per set with 456 and 5.18. She is also third in the NCAA for kills per set and fourth in kills. The Dominican Republic native is also third in the NCAA for points per set (5.78) and total points (509.0). Feliz is also second in service aces for the Cougars with 26 on the season. The outside hitter is also a main part of the Cougars defense as she is second in digs (294) and digs per set (3.34) for Chicago State.
Setter and Arizona native Jaclyn Inclan has a team best 755 assists and 9.68 assists per set. The graduate student is fourth in the WAC for assists per set and second in service aces per set with .40. Inclan has totaled a team best 31 service aces. Redshirt freshman Andrea Calderon is the Cougars libero. Calderon has a team best 342 digs and is averaging 3.89 digs per set. She has made 21 reception errors in 455 attempts for a .954 percentage. Dominican Republic native Mesalina Severino leads the Cougars in every blocking category. The middle blocker has 88 total blocks with 20 solos and is averaging 1.00 block per set.
Last time out the Cougars hosted Seattle U for their final home match as a WAC team and they defeated the RedHawks in a three-set sweep. The match before that the Cougars hosted CBU and defeated them in five-sets.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The Lopes travel to Las Cruces, N.M. for the WAC conference tournament beginning on Thursday November 18th with a TBA time and opponent.