Blowout set punctuates 12th win in last 13 matches

Saturday, October 21

Phoenix, Ariz.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-5,9-1WAC

Seattle U

6-15,1-9WAC

Seattle U

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jack Gilday

10/21/2023 7:19:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

After 3 weeks away from GCU Arena, Lopes return victorious off Parrott's 17 kills

By: Paul Coro

After three weeks away from GCU Arena, the Grand Canyon women's volleyball team could be allowed some grace to not look like the team that last left there with seven consecutive sweep victories.

But by the time the fourth set came Saturday, the Lopes transformed back to that hot home team and finished off Seattle U for a 25-15, 23-25, 25-21, 25-11 conference win.

In beating the Redhawks for the ninth consecutive time, GCU has won nine of its first 10 WAC matches for the first time in program history. The win also kept the Lopes within one game of conference leader Stephen F. Austin.

GCU (16-5, 9-1 WAC) scored the first six points of the fourth set and used another 6-0 run to take a 17-6 lead that broke Seattle U in front of a crowd of 1,032 fans.

"In the fourth set, we tried to make a statement like, 'This is who we can be, and this is who we're going to be,' " said Lopes head coach Tim Nollan, whose team has won 12 of its last 13 overall matches.

The statement was emphatic with GCU sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott collecting five of her match-high 17 kills and finishing the night with a kill and a block on the final two points.

"We were ready to be done with the game, like get it over with," Parrott said. "It lit a fire under our butts and we were like, 'Let's get it going and play our game.' "

The Lopes dominated hitting more than the final score indicated with a .303-.081 advantage for the match. GCU graduate setter Klaire Mitchell mobilized the offense with 39 assists and even was the offense at times with three final-set misdirection kills before exiting with the Lopes leading 23-8.

"Klaire is exhausted, but she battled through," Nollan said. "She's just a warrior, that kid. I wanted to rest her more, but I just feel like we're not comfortable yet. We haven't been comfortable in a week or so because the travel thing has worn us down.

"I don't think people understand how fatigued we are from the travel. We're still feeling it, and we played a tight match on Thursday."

The schedule meant a three-match week, starting with a road win at California Baptist on Monday night before beating Utah Valley on Thursday night.

Saturday's match opened with few scoring strings for GCU, but the Lopes did stretch the lead to 16-9 when a kill by senior outside hitter Stella Gkiourda was followed by sophomore libero Tatum Thomas' ace and junior middle blocker Alissa Uhlenhop's kill. From there, neither team scored consecutively until GCU ended the set with another 3-0 run started by senior outside hitter Hope Hanak-Harper's kill.

The Lopes led 22-16 in the second set, but the Redhawks (6-15, 1-9 WAC) had their best offensive run to steal the set with a 9-1 run.

Even after leading most of the third set, the teams traded points at length again late in the set until Seattle U closed the Lopes lead to 23-21. That is when GCU took the 2-1 match edge off a Seattle U error and junior middle blocker Trista Strasser's kill.

"We finished strong and we pulled out the energy," Parrott said. "We tried to have fun with the game. It was really nice to be back at home, take a breath, reset and have our home fans."

Parrott, the Phoenix Greenway High School graduate, has hit over .300 in four consecutive matches and averaged 20.5 kills per match during that stretch.

"I'm feeling good about myself," said Parrott, the WAC's leader in kills. "It's important to keep your body healthy so you can feel good about yourself. The girls around me support me, and we're all here for each other. It's a good feeling."

Saturday's match puts GCU at the 16-win mark in October for the first time since the 2019 season.

The Lopes stay home this week with Utah Tech coming to GCU Arena on Thursday night and Southern Utah visiting next Saturday. WAC leader Stephen F. Austin (21-3, 10-0 WAC) has a difficult Thursday match at UT Rio Grande Valley (14-9, 8-2 WAC) and then goes to UT Arlington (16-7, 5-5 WAC) on Monday.

"We feel like we have a lot that we can get better at and will get better at," Nollan said. "We're nowhere near a finished product yet.

"We're ecstatic to be home next week as well. It's time to refuel a little bit and get our bodies back to feeling good."