GCU concludes trip at Utah Valley

Saturday, September 25

Orem, Utah

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Utah Valley

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9/24/2021 12:55:00 PM | Volleyball

Lopes, Wolverines meet after dropping WAC openers

By: Kellie Reynolds


Grand Canyon Lopes (8-2, 0-1 WAC)	at	Utah Valley sWolverines (5-7, 0-1 WAC)
		Saturday, Sept. 25 Noon (Phoenix time)
Game notes		Live stats Live Video

The Lopes stay in Utah for their second WAC match as they take on reigning WAC champion Utah Valley for a Saturday afternoon matchup.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

FIRST WAC WIN: GCU and Utah Valley lost their WAC openers and are looking to get to .500 in conference play.
ATTACKING PERCENTAGE: Junior middle blocker Annabelle Kubinski leads the WAC in hitting percentage at .432l, which ranks 20th in the nation.
IN OREM: GCU has played its best against Utah Valley in Orem. In the all-time series, both Lopes wins came at Lockhart Arena.

SCOUTING

Utah Valley was the No. 3 seed in the WAC Tournament in the spring and managed to win it on its home floor, where it defeated the Lopes in a four-set semifinal and swept New Mexico State. The Wolverines were picked to win the WAC West Division and have the WAC Preseason Player of the Year in senior outside hitter Kazna Tanuvasa. Utah Valley entered the WAC season with a 5-6 record with losses coming from No. 10 Utah, Cal Poly, Weber State, Arizona State and No. 15 BYU. The Wolverines opened WAC play at home with New Mexico State on Thursday night, when it lost in four sets.

Tanuvasa leads the Wolverines in kills with 164 and 3.64 per set and ranks third in service aces with 10. Abbie Miller, a sophomore setter, has a team-best 275 assists and 5.61 assists-per-set average. Miller is tied for first in total aces with Natalie Palmer with 15. Sophomore libero Bryton Bishop has a team-best 204 digs and 4.16 per set. In 261 attempts, Bishop has made 18 errors on receptions for a .931 average. Middle blockers Kendra Nock and Sadie Hamson have a combined 78 blocks on the season and are averaging 1.08 and 1.09 blocks per set, respectively. Senior Kristen Bell leads the team with six solo blocks and 17 block assists on the outside.

In the home loss to New Mexico State, Utah Valley lost the first set but bounced back to take the second set. However, the Aggies managed to push past the Wolverines in the next two sets. Utah Valley outblocked the Aggies 12-9 with Nock and Hamson combining for 11 of them. Bishop also had a match-high 14 digs.

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes return home for the first time since the beginning of September and host California Baptist on Thursday at 6 p.m. in a GCBC Energy Spike-themed match.