GCU Invitational tests host's 3-0 start


Grand Canyon Lopes (3-0)	vs.	Western Carolina Catamounts (0-2)	Rider Broncos (0-3)	Villanova Wildcats (2-1)
		Friday, Sept. 3 7 p.m.	Saturday, Sept. 4 7 p.m.	Sunday, Sept. 5 2 p.m.
Game Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team welcomes three teams for the GCU Invitational on Sept. 3-5 in the GCU Arena for their first home matches of the season. GCU (3-0) will open the invite with Western Carolina (0-2) followed by Rider (0-3) and closing out the tournament with Villanova (2-1) on Sunday.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

UNDEFEATED AT HOME: The Lopes look to carry over their momentum from the spring season, when they went 8-0 in GCU Arena.
RECORD HOLDER: In her final season on the hardwood, libero Teagan DeFalco took over the Lopes' top spot for Division I-era career digs record with 1,364 after totaling 42 digs over the weekend in Idaho. DeFalco was 21 digs away from tying Mackenzie Phelps' record before GCU went to the Idaho Volleyball Classic, where she broke the record in the second set against Nevada.
FRESHMAN OF THE WEEK: Outside hitter McKenzie Wise won her first WAC Freshman of the Week award for her performances in Idaho. The Phoenix native posted the match high for kills in all three weekend matches, including bests of 16 kills and .452 hitting against Idaho.

SCOUTING

Western Carolina comes into the weekend with an 0-2 record after falling to UNC Asheville and Davidson in their opening weekend of play. In both matches, the Catamounts were able to take one set.

The Catamounts welcome back outside hitter Merry Gebel, who earned All-Southern Conference recognition last season along with Destinee Dorsey, who was named the conference's Libero of the Year. Dorseny and teammate Julia Gardon were named to the conference's All-Freshman Team. This season, Gebel is leading Western Carolina in most offensive categories: points (30), kills (28), points per set (3.75) and kills per set (3.50). Dorsey picked up where she left off in the libero row, totaling 50 digs and averaging 6.25 per set.

Rider is the only GCU Invitational participant that went to the NCAA tournament last season. The Broncos entered their conference tournament as the No. 4 seed and upset No. 2 seed Canisius to earn a berth to the NCAA first round against UCLA.

Rider took home three major awards last season, including Morgan Romano being named Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference's Player of the Year, Anilee Sher was honored as the MAAC's co-Setter of the Year and head coach Jeff Rotondo earned MAAC Coach of the Year.

This season, the Broncos are winless after dropping three matches at the Temple Invitational on opening weekend. Outside hitter Jillian Chan and Romano led the Broncos in kills with 30. Romano has a team-best points per set (3.67) and kills per set (3.33) while Chan is second in points per set (32.5) and kills per set (2.73). Chan has played in all 11 sets for Rider while Romano has played in nine. Sher enters her senior season with 102 assists and 8.5 assists per set. She also has a team-high four service aces.

Villanova is the only team besides GCU that won at least one match this season. The Wildcats enter with a 2-1 record with their only loss coming to Stanford on opening night. Villanova returns Big East Libero of the Year Averi Salvador for her final season, as well as All-Big East members Sophia Howling and Riley Homer.

Senior outside hitter Clare Delaplane leads the Wildcats with 39.5 points and 35 kills. She is hitting a team-high .384 on the season and a had a double-double against Stanford with 15 kills and 11 digs. along with an impressive .577 hitting percentage. Fellow pin hitter Riley Homer is right behind with 37 points, 3.7 points per set, 32 kills and 3.2 kills per set. Homer had a high of 16 kills and a .455 hitting percentage against Rider. Salvador continues to be the best defensively for the Wildcats. The libero has team bests of 33 digs, 3.30 digs per set and four service aces with only one error.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes head to the Pacific Northwest to take part in the Portland State Tournament on Sept. 10-11. GCU opens up the tournament against UTEP on Sept. 10 at 10:30 a.m.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Teagan DeFalco

McKenzie Wise

Grand Canyon University Athletics