Rally evens match before Iowa State prevails in 5

Saturday, September 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-2,0-0WAC

Iowa State

5-0,0-0Big 12

Iowa St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

9/2/2023 10:27:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Lopes wipe away 2-0 hole with Parrott's 19 kills, Mitchell's 39 assists leading in front of 2,893 fans

The atmosphere came back Saturday night, and the Grand Canyon women's volleyball team nearly did too.

A GCU Arena crowd of 2,893 fans helped stir a Lopes rally on the GCU Invitational's second night, when Iowa State won the first two sets before the Lopes stormed back to even the match before losing in five sets.

The Cyclones remained undefeated at 5-0 by winning 25-20, 25-13, 23-25, 20-25, 15-11 despite GCU sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott's 19 kills and three blocks and graduate setter Klaire Mitchell's 39 assists, 13 digs and three aces.

"I hate losing," Lopes head coach Tim Nollan said. "I think Iowa State's a really good team. Really well coached. Storied program. I think they're going to be in the top 15 in the country come the end of the year. But I think what impressed me the most was our fan base rocking to the end of the game. They didn't quit on us either. They stayed behind us and helped us rally.

"We're going to take this. We're going to learn from it and get better. Get a little bit better in some other areas. I'm excited about tomorrow (2 p.m. Sunday vs. Arizona) now to come back and try to do it all over again."

Iowa State asserted itself with 7-3, 11-5 and 15-8 leads in the first set before GCU gained traction with three 3-0 rallies. That tightened the Cyclone lead to 21-19, but Iowa State won 25-20 despite three kills apiece from Parrott and senior outside hitter Stella Gkiourda, who finished with seven kills and 14 digs.

Again in the second set, the Cyclones stormed to a 6-1 lead. After a mild GCU threat made it a 12-8 hole, it only got worse for the Lopes in a 25-13 loss that put them in a 2-0 match hole.

"We answered the bell," Nollan said. "They came out and swung and landed two quick shots on us and kind of rocked us a bit in the second set. Really proud of the composure of our team to come back in that third set and decide that they were just going to compete and battle."

Trailing 12-8 for the second straight set, GCU rattled off a 10-2 run with three kills by sophomore outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez. From a 19-19 tie, the teams alternated points to 23-23 before the Lopes stayed alive with Parrott closing out the 25-23 set with a kill and an ace.

"We brought Anaelena in to swing on the right for us, just give us a little different attack look over there and try to score some points," Nollan said. "We were having a hard time scoring early. And then quite honestly, Tatum Thomas stepped up from the libero position and just passed a little bit more consistently and started making some defensive plays and playing our system. That freed us up to really try and counter swing and get back after them instead of just constantly playing scramble."

The momentum carried to the fourth set, when GCU responded each time Iowa State took a lead. Four Ramirez fourth-set kills kept the Lopes in it. Trailing 20-19, GCU went on a 6-0 tear with four of the points coming on Parrott kills to win the set 25-19 and even the match at 2-2.

Ramirez's 10th kill put GCU ahead 5-4 in the fifth set, but it was the last time that the Lopes would lead. Iowa State secured six match points at 14-8 and the Lopes could only fight off three of them in a 15-11 Cyclones set.

The Lopes return to GCU Arena for a 2 p.m. tournament finale against Arizona.

"I expect a really competitive match against a quality, storied program," Nollan said. "Arizona was here scouting us today after their win. I look forward to them trying to make a statement in here as much as we're going to try and make one as well. You always love the in-state rivalry. You love competing against really quality opponents."