GCU faces UVU to open WAC Tournament


Grand Canyon Lopes (36-13, 19-45 WAC)	vs.	Utah Valley Wolverines (24-25, 12-12 WAC)
		Thursday, May 12 8 a.m. (Phoenix time)
Game notes		Live video Live stats

Grand Canyon takes on Utah Valley in the Lopes' first game of the WAC Tournament and the Wolverines' third tournament game. GCU is the No. 1 seed in the WAC Tournament while the Wolverines are No. 5. The Lopes took two of three games from Utah Valley in Phoenix in conference play, including two run-rule wins.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

NCAA TOP 25: GCU is seventh in the nation for batting average and first in the WAC with a .333. The Lopes are also 17th in scoring, averaging 6.41 runs per game. With a .512 slugging percentage, the Lopes rank 27th. GCU is ranked sixth the nation in stolen bases (123) and second in stolen bases per game (2.51). Senior left fielder Gianna Nicoletti ranks first in the nation for stolen bases per game (1.0), second in stolen bases (49), seventh in runs per game (1.18), 20th in hits (67) and 44th in batting average (.409). Right fielder Kristin Fifield ranks 15th in the nation and second in the conference for RBIs (54)
WAC RECORD: Nicoletti broke a 25-year-old, single-season WAC record for stolen bases after stealing third against California Baptist on Saturday in Riverside.
GCU SINGLE-SEASON RECORD: Fifield claimed the single-season GCU home run record with her 14th of the season in Game 1 against CBU on Friday. Teammate Denae Chatman is one home run behind Fifield with 13.

SCOUTING
UTAH VALLEY comes into the WAC tournament with a 24-25 record, including a 12-12 mark in conference play. The Wolverines earned the No. 5 seed in the WAC Tournament and had to take on Lamar in the opening-round, single-elimination game. They then squared off with Abilene Christian in the next round and defeated the Wildcats to get to the Lopes.

UVU had two players earn All-WAC first-team honors: seniors Madison Carr and Linnah Rebolledo. Carr is a first-time WAC award honoree while Rebolledo made her second straight appearance on the first team.

Carr leads the WAC and ranks fourth in the country with 75 hits, which is also a Utah Valley record in the program's NCAA Division I era. She also ranks seventh in the nation with a .446 batting average, and on Monday was named the WAC Hitter of the Week. Carr is second in the conference with 23 stolen bases and has registered 23 multi-hit games, 10 of which have been games with three hits or more. Carr also broke a school record earlier this season by reaching base in 31 consecutive games.

Rebolledo is second on the Wolverines with a .366 average to go along with six home runs, 38 RBIs, 12 stolen bases and a team-high 12 doubles. She's hit a pair of grand slams this season, including in a 10-0 win over California Baptist on April 15. Rebolledo was named the WAC Player of the Week on April 18, after leading the team to a series sweep of CBU.

LAST TIME OUT
GCU took two of three in Riverside, California, over the Lancers of CBU to clinch the No. 1 seed.

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Players Mentioned

Denae Chatman

Kristin Fifield

Gianna Nicoletti

Grand Canyon University Athletics