WAC title match awaits after sweep in semis

Friday, November 19

Las Cruces, N.M.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-6,9-5WAC

Sam Houston

18-9,10-3WAC

Grand Canyon

Sam Houston

Photo by: Zach Campbell

11/19/2021 6:10:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU advances to Saturday's tournament championship vs. UVU

By: Kellie Reynolds

LAS CRUCES, N.M. – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team took down WAC Tournament No. 1 seed Sam Houston in a Friday semifinal sweep, 25-20, 25-21, 25-17, that included 13 service aces with five coming from graduate libero Teagan DeFalco.

The Lopes (19-6) advanced to the WAC Tournament championship match for the second time in three seasons. GCU will face Utah Valley in a 7 p.m. Saturday match at New Mexico State with an NCAA tournament automatic berth at stake.

"Really proud of the team tonight and their effort, specially from the service line coming through with a performance like that is just unbelievable," Lopes head coach Tim Nollan said. "Thirteen aces, six in the second set and six in the third is just really attacking the opponent and we talked about it, and it was a point of emphasis to really attack from the service line and we wanted to defend better than we did last night, even though did not defend poorly but we felt that we could do better.

"Also, offensively in the first and third sets, we did great. We hit .308 and .320. We were a little flat and made some unforced errors in the second set that we will need to clean up. But I am super proud of this team's resiliency and staying true to who we really are and not getting rattled in big situations or under pressure. Our kids love to compete, and they love the big moment. I think their performance so far in this tournament as shown that."

The Lopes got out to a quick start in the opening set with an eight-point run to take an 11-4 advantage. That GCU run was started by sophomore outside hitter Ashley Lifgren and freshman outside hitter McKenzie Wise combining on three kills in that stretch. Sam Houston (18-9) closed the gap but Lopes sophomore outside hitter Giorgia Turri's ace gave the Lopes a 19-14 lead. Back-to-back kills from Lifgren and junior middle blocker Annabelle Kubinski gave GCU a set point, which Lifgren won with her fifth kill of the set.

The Lopes carried the momentum into the second set for a 5-2 lead and got more separation at 13-9 from back-to-back aces by Wise. Sam Houston stopped the rally but was only able to pick up a single point before Lopes junior setter Klaire Mitchell found Lifgren on the pin. DeFalco followed with three aces in a row. Sam Houston closed the gap to 22-21, but GCU closed the set with three consecutive points for a 2-0 match lead.

GCU kept control in the final set by taking an 11-6 lead on a five-point run that included two kills by freshman outside hitter Sydney Reed and two more aces by Wise. The Lopes went on another five-point run to lead 20-11 and Kubinski's ace put GCU two points away from a semifinal win at 23-14. The Bearkats briefly rallied before the Lopes closed the match with Mitchell finding junior middle blocker Hannah Eskes in the middle and then serving the Lopes' 13th ace, one off their season high.

The Lopes swept the Bearkats in both meetings this season. This one had a balanced attack with Kubinski and Ligren each recording eight kills and Eskes and Wise each having seven. Wise added four aces while Kubinski also delivered four blocks. Mitchell ran the offense for 27 assists with the help of DeFalco's 16 digs.

The Lopes will compete for the WAC championship at 7 p.m. Saturday in the Pan American Center against Utah Valley (15-12). On Friday night, the Wolverines swept Stephen F. Austin for their fourth consecutive victory. GCU won two regular-season matchups against Utah Valley, going five sets in Orem, Utah, and lasting four sets in Phoenix.