GCU hosts UTRGV for pair

Monday, February 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

7:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UT Rio Grande Valley

2/21/2021 9:00:00 AM | Volleyball

Lopes enter Vaqueros series in WAC 2nd-place tie

Monday-Tuesday, Feb. 22-23 \| 7 p.m. \| GCU Arena

	UTRGV VAQUEROS (0-6, 0-4 WAC)	vs.	GRAND CANYON LOPES (4-2, 4-2 WAC)

WATCH: Live \| STATS: View \| GCU GAME NOTES: View

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team returns home to host UT Rio Grande Valley on Feb. 22-23 in the GCU Arena. The Vaqueros come into the match with an 0-6 record and are 0-4 in WAC play. UTRGV has not played since falling to New Mexico State on Feb. 8-9.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

IN THE RANKINGS: In the Lopes' six matches, they have made a big impact in the national top 25 for three different categories and 26th in another. Outside hitter Yeny Murillo ranks 12th in kills per set with 4.75. Setter Klaire Mitchell has an average of 11.1 assists per set, which drops her in at 25th in the nation. As a team, the Lopes defense is averaging 18.8 digs per set to rank 14th nationally.
RECORD CHASING: Mitchell has continued to chip away at the GCU Division I-era career assists record. She needs 121 more to break the record.
FRESHMEN MAKE AN IMPACT: Freshmen are continuing to make an impact for the Lopes as outside hitter Giorgia Turri and defensive specialist Mia Goulart have started in four straight matches.

SCOUTING

The Vaqueros come into the fifth week of WAC play with a 0-4 record after dropping series to Dixie State and New Mexico State without winning a set. UTRGV is one of the few WAC schools that has played nonconference matches. The Vaqueros opened the season against UT San Antonio, in which they won their only two sets of the season thus far. They also lost to Texas A&M Corpus-Christi in straight sets in nonconference action.

The Vaqueros have three players who started all six matches this season: Mackenzie Coates, Sarah Cruz and Veronika Jandova. Jandova, a middle blocker, has a team-high 56 kills with an average of 2.8 per set. She also leads the team in blocks with 11. Coates, a graduate student setter, has 150 assists for an average of 7.5 per set. She is also second in digs with 48. As a team, the Vaqueros are hitting .135 with 10.6 kills per set. On the defensive end, they have 285 digs and are averaging 14.3 per set. On the serving line, UTRGV has 21 aces, six of which were by freshman outside hitter Ada Bulgur.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes play at California Baptist on March 8-9 in Riverside, California.