Confidence builds on strength of returnees, new defense

Friday, August 25

Winston-Salem, N.C.

1 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Northeastern

Photo by: Sebastian Molinar

Confidence builds on strength of returnees, new defense

8/23/2023 6:30:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Mitchell, Parrott lead way for team with '19 strong' motto, WAC championship goals

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon women's volleyball has grand goals that are going to require more than just the six players on the court at a time.

With eyes fixated on claiming their first WAC title, the Lopes will rely on strength in numbers when this season's squad debuts this weekend at the Wake Forest Tournament.

Tim Nollan

Their season motto: 19 strong.

The strength comes in the depth, balance and competition that 19 unified players bring and flexing one of the nation's best setters, graduate Klaire Mitchell, with a bulked-up defense.

"We're already a more disciplined and better blocking team than last year," said GCU eighth-year head coach Tim Nollan, whose team opens against Northeastern on Friday in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

"We're really pushing the defensive side of the ball. We're just understanding our systems better and having a little more physicality at the net. We have more arms in the gym, and we have a little bit more aggression serving."

Klaire Mitchell

Since Mitchell's arrival, GCU has enjoyed a program renaissance with a 72-27 record during her four seasons. But after last season's team relied heavily on offense, GCU expects to be a more symmetrical threat for whichever side of the net the ball is airborne.

Mitchell's fifth year, via the NCAA COVID-19 waiver, gives reason for the Lopes to be ambitious as the Idahoan builds on a 3,434-assist resume.

"Having Klaire running the show again is like having a coach on the floor," Nollan said. "She sees things. She's already making adjustments that I'm getting up off the bench to make. She's already moving people and doing things. She seems freer this year, just more confident in knowing she doesn't have to ask to change patterns or change play sets."

Mitchell also gets another year with last season's top weapon. Sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott, a Phoenix Greenway High School graduate, returns with greater confidence after leading GCU in points (356) and aces (33) as a freshman starting 22 of the 29 matches last season.

But GCU also expects more at the pins from senior Ashley Lifgren and sophomore Anaelena Ramirez. Lifgren already delivered 3.01 points per set last season, but health issues sidelined her for 50% of the Lopes' sets.

"She had a really good summer of working out and putting time in the weight room, and she's seeing the benefits," Nollan said of Lifgren, the Peoria Centennial High School graduate.

Wise and Ramirez

Ramirez, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter from El Paso, Texas, leaped into the mix in the offseason after hitting .268 in nine appearances last season.

"She has made a giant step forward, even from the spring to now," Nollan said. "I just think she's more confident. She understands the game better. Her footwork has gotten better. She's starting to play a little freer."

GCU also returns outside hitters Hope Hanak-Harper, a senior with high-end blocking on the right side, and McKenzie Wise, who recorded 480 kills in her first two Lopes seasons.

For newcomers, freshman Ellie Frey of Fort Wayne, Indiana, and Central Florida transfer Stella Gkiourda are having instant impacts with their versatility and serving ability.

"Stella's just meshed in so seamlessly in the team dynamic and the team culture," Nollan said. "Stepping into whatever role we want. We can put her on the left. We can put her on the right. We can use her as a DS (defensive specialist). We can use her as serving sub.

"She's just willing to do any and all things, and she does it with a smile on her face. The team loves her. She's one of those people who walks in the room and makes it brighter."

Nollan expects the team's largest transformation to come defensively, especially with Missouri 6-foot-4 transfer Trista Strasser bringing more size to the middle. With juniors Alissa Uhlenhop and Sydney Reed also in the middle, the Lopes simplified cues to be in blocking position more often.

"The communication and energy are really crazy," said Strasser, a junior from Kyle, Texas. "Everyone will scream and push you if you get a really good point. It's all the energy that I needed. Everyone's giving me energy here.

"The coaches and the girls made the change really easy for me. I love it here way more."

Four liberos – one from each class – have competed for the libero job with Nollan feeling each one could contribute this season. Sophomore Tatum Thomas, a Chandler Hamilton High School graduate, tied Mitchell for the team lead in sets played (110) last season as a freshman and returns with junior Katherine Schmitt and senior Castan Sturm, while freshman Bella Anderson comes from Scottsdale Christian Academy.

"I think we're really going to squeeze people on defense," Nollan said. "I think we're going to defend at an elite level by the time conference comes around and be able to hold people down. Last year, we just didn't defend very well. We beat people by outscoring them. This year, we still have the ability to do that, but we are going to defend at a very high level and account for a lot of balls."

The program's supportive spirit remains present even with the larger roster. The Lopes are balanced with maturity and fun. When they take part in Student-Athlete Development workshops, they truly are applying the tenets to the team.

"You have to really throw yourself into the team and embrace everyone else other than yourself," Ramirez said. "The goal is to win the WAC, but I'm trying to live the motto of one thing at a time, one practice at a time, one game at a time. If you think too far ahead, you can psych yourself out."

After the Lopes play Northeastern, Toledo and host Wake Forest this weekend, they will make their home debut against Long Island for the annual Lope-A-Palooza, a Sept. 1 event which will feature a student-only, capacity-crowd environment at GCU Arena to welcome the campus' freshmen. Public home matches will follow against Iowa State on Sept. 2 and Arizona on Sept. 3.

"We want to win the conference, regular season and the conference tournament," said Nollan, whose team was picked second to Stephen F. Austin in the conference coaches' preseason poll. "That's, hands down, the goal. I think we're in a position to do that, but we've got to come out and win matches. We wanted to challenge ourselves and see how good we could be because we have the talent to win."