GCU sweeps Idaho in front of record crowd

Friday, September 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-1,0-0WAC

Idaho

0-4,0-0Big Sky

Idaho

Grand Canyon

9/2/2022 8:25:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

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Lopes win home opener for 5th straight season in front of program-record 7,146 fans

By: Josh Hauser

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team opened the home slate the way it has for the last five seasons: with a victory.

In front of a program-record 7,146 fans, GCU swept aside Idaho by scores of 25-19, 25-22 and 25-20.

For the second straight season, the Lopes opened the season in front of a raucous Welcome Week crowd of Havocs with a highly anticipated Lope-A-Palooza pep rally following the match. Friday night's crowd beat out last year's attendance number of 7,111.

"It's always amazing to play here at home," Lopes head coach Tim Nollan said. "Then you add a sellout crowd with the Havocs doing what they do best — which is just having fun — it's just great and an amazing experience for our student-athletes."

Amid GCU's five-year streak of winning home openers, the last four have come via sweeps.

"It's the Havocs and the GCU atmosphere itself," Nollan accredited the home-opening success to. "If you look at our home record over the last couple years, there's not a lot of losses. Our kids do well here in this building. They like playing in front of the fans. They love representing the university at the highest level."

The Lopes are 29-4 in their last 33 home games.

Idaho found early-set success in the first and second sets, leading 6-3 in the first set and 11-6 in the second. But in each instance, the Lopes responded with scoring runs of their own. In the first set, it was a 5-2 run to quickly tie the score at 8. In the second set, GCU quickly erased a five-point deficit with a 5-0 run.

The third set was far less dramatic with GCU hitting a match-best .318 in capping off the sweep.

"I think finally we gained our composure and didn't try to force it," Nollan said. "One of the things about us is we have so much velocity this year, sometimes we try and force it when it's not the right opportunity. As we move forward, getting better at taking advantage of the right situations and being patient when it's not there."

Graduate outsides Megan Taflinger (13) and Melanie Brecka (8) led GCU in kills while sophomore outside McKenzie Wise posted six kills and hit .500.

"Really proud of McKenzie Wise coming off the bench and hitting .500," Nollan said. "(Sophomore middle blocker) Sydney Reed hitting a .600 clip as well.

"Serving, we put pressure on. We missed one or two more than we wanted but we managed that pretty well."

GCU's weekend slate continues on Saturday night when the Lopes host Wyoming at 7 p.m. The Cowgirls opened the GCU Invitational on Friday afternoon with a 3-1 loss to Santa Clara.