Home streak extends with 2nd UTRGV sweep

Tuesday, February 23

Phoenix, Ariz.

3:00 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-2,6-2WAC

UT Rio Grande Valley

0-8,0-6WAC

UTRGV

Grand Canyon

2/23/2021 6:21:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

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Strong close finishes GCU's 8th consecutive home victory

By: Paul Coro

It is nice for the Grand Canyon women's volleyball team to be able to win its first two sets, record 15 kills in each one and know that it has another level still to reach.

The Lopes reached that next rung in the third set Tuesday and finished off a sweep of UT Rio Grande Valley for the match and the two-game series. GCU extended its home winning streak to eight matches by prevailing 25-19, 25-23, 25-15 at GCU Arena.

The coaches set a 10-block goal for the Lopes (6-2), who scored five of their final nine points by blocks to finish with 12 for the match.

"Jeff (assistant coach Jeff Liu) kind of leaned over and said, 'Hey, just so you guys are aware, we're behind on block count,' " GCU head coach Tim Nollan said. "I don't know if that's all he needed to say. I wish we would've done that in the first set."

GCU led 17-15 in the third set before scoring the final eight points consecutively with freshman Giorgia Turri's serving for the last seven.

Lopes sophomore middle blocker Hannah Eskes scored by block or kill on six of the final nine points. Eskes finished with a career-high eight blocks (four solo) and tied a career high with 10 kills on 20 attacks.

"It was a reverse of yesterday, when we started super strong," said Eskes, whose team beat UTRGV 25-11, 25-19, 25-22 on Monday. "We had a fire behind us in wanting to finish strong and get momentum going into travel for next week's games. At the end, we definitely picked it up and got to our level of play. We were in control and the aggressor, which is what Tim wanted us to do all along."

The first two sets were tighter, but GCU led for nearly all of them once junior middle blocker Kaira Moss had a run of three kills on four plays to wipe out a UTRGV 10-8, first-set lead.

Turri put down five kills in the first set on the way to a 12-kill, 15-dig match with .345 hitting. The freshman from Italy made her GCU debut on Feb. 8, but already progressed for her best attacking and defensive series of her six WAC appearances.

"In the last two weeks, she's come leaps and bounds," Nollan said. "We threw her straight to the wolves early. She did the best she could and helped us be successful and compete hard. We have still a lot to get better at and that makes me fired up for next week because I can't see what she looks like then."

GCU sophomore setter Klaire Mitchell orchestrated the offensive success, posting 39 assists on Monday and 37 assists on Tuesday. She now holds three of the top five three-set assist totals in GCU Division I history.

"She's able to read when the middles are jumping with us and see really well in her peripheral whether the middle's going with us or going to the outside," Eskes said. "She gives us good open looks on the net, which makes them flow inward and outward."

Mitchell's average of 11.4 assists per set ranks 15th nationally. On Tuesday, she added a season-high four blocks with three kills and an ace.

"She's pulling all the strings behind the scenes," said Nollan, whose team averages the eighth-most attacks per set (40.3) in the nation. "She's our point guard. She's our QB. I think she's the best setter in the league. She's done a masterful job of finding who's playing well that night and keeping them in rhythm while trying to give the other kids opportunities to get back into rhythm."

Murillo, who ranks 12th nationally at 4.7 kills per set, finished with 11 kills Tuesday. Three Lopes players tallied double-digit digs – Turri (15), freshman defensive specialist Mia Goulart (11), and senior libero K.J. Adams (10).

GCU, now 30-8 over hte past two seasons, is tied for second place in the WAC with Utah Valley. The Lopes will play at California Baptist next week as the first of three remaining conference series.