WAC play starts with sweep over Southern Utah

Thursday, September 21

Cedar City, Utah

5:30 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-4,1-0WAC

Southern Utah

4-7,0-1WAC

Grand Canyon

Southern Utah

9/21/2023 8:30:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Lopes notch 5th straight game of .300-plus hitting, 8th sweep of season

By: Adrianna Candelaria

CEDAR CITY, Utah — Grand Canyon opened the WAC season with a road sweep over Southern Utah (4-7, WAC 0-1), recording its fourth straight 3-0 victory and its fifth consecutive match with .300-plus hitting on Thursday evening.

"Always great to get a conference road win," Lopes head coach Tim Nollan. "Conference is a grind. Coaches are well prepared and teams fight. We played solid volleyball tonight and are excited to move to Saturday 1-0."

Graduate setter Klaire Mitchell (35 assists) led the Lopes (8-4, WAC 1-0) to a .316 hitting percentage with solid efforts at the net from junior middle blocker Sydney Reed (.556), junior outside hitter McKenzie Wise (.500), sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott (.414), sophomore outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez (.267), senior outside hitter Ashley Lifgren (.259) and sophomore middle blocker Trista Strasser (.250).

Parrott posted 13 kills, three block assists and one solo block for a team-high 15.5 points on the night.

The defensively charged Lopes also notched their second straight match with double-digit blocks, holding the Thunderbirds to just .056 hitting. They challenged Southern Utah with 11 blocks to one, as Strasser guarded the net with six block assists and Lifgren delivered a solo block. Meanwhile, sophomore libero Tatum Thomas took care of business in the back row, leading the team with 11 digs.

Ramirez struck first with a match-opening kill to give GCU an early lead that it never let go. The Lopes led the first set in its entirety, building to as much as a seven-point lead with Parrott's sixth kill of the set at 21-15 and a Thunderbirds attacking error for 22-15. Lifgren put away the 25-18 set with back-to-back kills.

Lifgren led the second frame with five kills, ultimately breaking a 14-point, back-and-forth streak of ties from 1-1 to 7-7. Her kill gave GCU an 8-7 lead before Reed chimed in with her second kill of the match to put GCU ahead 9-7.. Once in control, the Lopes never wavered, finishing the second set similarly to the first, at 25-18 with a kill by Lifgren.

With three kills apiece in the third frame, Parrott, Ramirez and Strasser shared the load and led the Lopes to a 25-13 victory. A strike from Strasser broke a 6-6 lock, and was followed by freshman libero Bella Anderson's second service ace of the match at 8-6. Compiling a 6-0 run from three Southern Utah errors and kills by Strasser, Parrott, and junior outside hitter Stella Gkiourda, GCU compiled a 22-11 lead. Wise finished off the win with a match-point kill.

GCU will face Utah Tech (4-7, WAC 0-1) on Saturday at noon (Phoenix time).