Lopes fall in 4 on road to Texans

Thursday, November 2

Stephenville, Texas

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

18-6,11-2WAC

Tarleton

14-13,5-8WAC

Grand Canyon

Tarleton St.

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 28, 2023: GCU sweeps Southern Utah to record its 14th sweep of the season. Photo David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

11/2/2023 7:30:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU maintains 2nd place in conference standings

By: Adrianna Candelaria

STEPHENVILLE, Texas — Ninth-place Tarleton State snapped second-place Grand Canyon's six-match winning streak in a four-set match (25-17, 22-25, 18-25, 20-25) on Thursday night, dropping the Lopes two games behind first-place Stephen F. Austin with only three regular-season matches remaining.

GCU (18-6, 11-2 WAC) is scheduled against seventh-place Abilene Christian (10-14, 5-7 WAC), SFA (24-3, 13-0 WAC), and fifth-place UT Arlington (18-8, 7-6 WAC), who the Lopes swept, got swept and downed in four sets, respectively, earlier this season. SFA remains undefeated with matches remaining against sixth-place Utah Valley (9-15, 6-7 WAC), GCU, and fourth-place California Baptist (14-9, 7-5 WAC) on the docket before the WAC Tournament on Nov. 16-19. The Ladyjacks swept the Wolverines and the Lopes earlier this season, and defeated the Lancers in four sets.

GCU graduate setter Klaire Mitchell recorded her third-best assist total of the season (48), inching closer to her single-season assist record (1,126) that she set last December. Mitchell has 895 assists on the season, putting her well within reach of a third 1,000-assist season, and within striking distance of her record.

Led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott (21.5 points, 18 kills, .273) for the 11th consecutive match, the Lopes managed a .243 hitting clip, with the assistance of middle blockers Trista Strasser (13 points, nine kills, .389) and Alissa Uhlenhop (11 points, 10 kills, .471) and sophomore outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez (nine points, eight kills, .304). GCU tallied 53 kills to Tarleton's 49 on the match.

However, as one of the most aggressive serving teams in the nation, ranked sixth in aces per set (2.09) and 28th in aces (169) nationally entering Thursday, the Lopes only registered four aces to the Texans' 11 in Wisdom Volleyball Gym.

On the defensive end, GCU posted 11 blocks and 56 digs, with each total being just one shy of Tarleton's respective totals on the night. Strasser led the Lopes with seven blocks, including one solo, while junior outside hitter McKenzie Wise notched a team-leading 13 digs.

What started as a hot night in Stephenville for the Lopes who dominated the first frame 25-17 with a .417 hitting percentage, boiled down to losing the next three sets to the Texans.

GCU began the second set with a 5-0 lead and nearly led the set in its entirety until Tarleton scored six unanswered points to even the match 1-1. Despite only hitting .129 to the Texans .321 the Lopes forced four ties but weren't able to overtake Tarleton's momentum. The fourth frame flew by after ties at 2-2 and 5-5, as the Texans built a 13-8 lead that the Lopes fought to cut to 14-12 with a 4-0 run but were unable to catch Tarleton.

GCU will play at seventh-place Abilene Christian (10-14, 5-7 WAC) on Saturday at 9 a.m. (Phoenix time).