Completed Event: Volleyball at Arizona State on March 20, 2026 ,
Volleyball
at Arizona State
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg
Lope-A-Palooza returns for full-arena match
8/30/2022 10:15:00 AM | Volleyball, Paul Coro, Lopes Insider Blog
Crowd of 7,000 expected Friday as part of campus' Welcome Week
The cranked-up crowd of 7,111 fans that watched a Grand Canyon women's volleyball match last year at GCU Arena was just a trial run.
Nobody – not the Lopes, the opponent or even the fans – knew what to expect when GCU made last season's home opener part of the campus Welcome Week's Lope-A-Palooza night for the first time.
The turnout, largely raucous students, cheered upon seeing a purple team emerge from the arena tunnel before realizing it was Western Carolina and switching to boos.
There will be no mistake this time when gold-colored Idaho plays the same event as GCU's home opener at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I was the last one out of the locker room last year and (Rachel) Bode, our athletic trainer, looked at me and she said, 'Just wait until you see what is going on,' " GCU senior setter Klaire Mitchell said. "It was almost like a dream. I felt like you couldn't see anybody in the crowd. It was just like this huge arena full of people screaming for you.
"This year, I'm almost more nervous because last year we had no idea what to expect."
The crowd of 7,111 fans was the nation's largest attendance for volleyball, men's or women's, of any 2021 match not involving Nebraska or Wisconsin. The Lopes treated the support well with a 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 victory.
"I wasn't expecting the whole place to be packed out," said sophomore outside hitter McKenzie Wise, who made her home collegiate debut in a full arena. "We were talking to (head coach Tim Nollan) about it and he said, 'Just don't look at the crowd. You'll feel better.' But you walk out and you look at the crowd because you have to take it all in. The environment was amazing."
Wise did not show it, opening the match with a kill that turned up the arena volume. Like many of her teammates, she settled into the atmosphere and finished with a team-high 14 kills.
"It made the butterflies crazy at first, but then I realized they were all cheering for us," Wise said. "So then it helped a lot to hear, 'Yeah, No. 1 (her uniform number).' After maybe the first four points, I felt better and was like, 'I'm home now.'
"They (the Catamounts) looked just as terrified as us, but theirs didn't go away. They're a great team, but they had no idea what to do in that situation."
GCU has five newcomers (three freshmen and two graduate transfers) who will be playing at home as Lopes for the first time on Friday, the home team's first match of the GCU Invitational that also includes Wyoming and Santa Clara.
The first-match jitters were vanquished with the team's 2-1 start at the Bobcat Classic, but the Lopes go from crowds in the hundreds in Montana to another possible full house of about 7,000 on Friday night.
"I'm sure nerves will come with it, but I'm more excited than anything," GCU freshman libero Tatum Thomas said. "I've been wanting to be a part of GCU and play here for a long time. I'm ready now."
Nobody – not the Lopes, the opponent or even the fans – knew what to expect when GCU made last season's home opener part of the campus Welcome Week's Lope-A-Palooza night for the first time.
The turnout, largely raucous students, cheered upon seeing a purple team emerge from the arena tunnel before realizing it was Western Carolina and switching to boos.
There will be no mistake this time when gold-colored Idaho plays the same event as GCU's home opener at 7 p.m. Friday.
"I was the last one out of the locker room last year and (Rachel) Bode, our athletic trainer, looked at me and she said, 'Just wait until you see what is going on,' " GCU senior setter Klaire Mitchell said. "It was almost like a dream. I felt like you couldn't see anybody in the crowd. It was just like this huge arena full of people screaming for you."This year, I'm almost more nervous because last year we had no idea what to expect."
The crowd of 7,111 fans was the nation's largest attendance for volleyball, men's or women's, of any 2021 match not involving Nebraska or Wisconsin. The Lopes treated the support well with a 25-17, 25-19, 25-21 victory.
"I wasn't expecting the whole place to be packed out," said sophomore outside hitter McKenzie Wise, who made her home collegiate debut in a full arena. "We were talking to (head coach Tim Nollan) about it and he said, 'Just don't look at the crowd. You'll feel better.' But you walk out and you look at the crowd because you have to take it all in. The environment was amazing."
Wise did not show it, opening the match with a kill that turned up the arena volume. Like many of her teammates, she settled into the atmosphere and finished with a team-high 14 kills.
"It made the butterflies crazy at first, but then I realized they were all cheering for us," Wise said. "So then it helped a lot to hear, 'Yeah, No. 1 (her uniform number).' After maybe the first four points, I felt better and was like, 'I'm home now.'
"They (the Catamounts) looked just as terrified as us, but theirs didn't go away. They're a great team, but they had no idea what to do in that situation."
GCU has five newcomers (three freshmen and two graduate transfers) who will be playing at home as Lopes for the first time on Friday, the home team's first match of the GCU Invitational that also includes Wyoming and Santa Clara.
The first-match jitters were vanquished with the team's 2-1 start at the Bobcat Classic, but the Lopes go from crowds in the hundreds in Montana to another possible full house of about 7,000 on Friday night.
"I'm sure nerves will come with it, but I'm more excited than anything," GCU freshman libero Tatum Thomas said. "I've been wanting to be a part of GCU and play here for a long time. I'm ready now."
Players Mentioned
"It would be really cool to beat my mom's record." - Aubrey Goodere | Volleyball
Tuesday, January 06
Bella Nunez | Women's Volleyball
Monday, November 10
Kendra Potts Post Match Press Conference | GCU vs NAU 9.7.25
Monday, September 08
“You don’t know what it’s like.” | The Lope-a-Palooza Experience
Saturday, August 30