5-set match goes to Arizona

Sunday, September 3

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-3,0-0WAC

Arizona

3-3,0-0Pac-12

Arizona

Grand Canyon

9/3/2023 6:00:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Mitchell notches 4th double-double in season's 6th match

By: Adrianna Candelaria

Grand Canyon fell in Sunday's final set to Arizona, in a heated state-48 battle that the Wildcats won 14-25-14, 25-14, 25-20, 20-25, 15-9 at GCU Arena.

"Another tough five-setter for us today," said Lopes head coach Tim Nollan, who team dropped a five-set match Saturday to Iowa State. "We will watch a ton of film and learn from this. This result doesn't change our expectations or goals for the season."

Led offensively by sophomore outside hitter Tatum Parrott (17 kills, 18.5 points), junior outside hitter McKenzie Wise (13 kills, 333 hitting percentage, 14 points) and graduate setter Klaire Mitchell (44 assists), the Lopes assembled a .224 match hitting percentage for a total of 51 kills, falling just short to Arizona's respective .258 and 65.

However, defensively, GCU outblocked Arizona 6-5 with sophomore middle blocker Trista Strasser posting two solo blocks to give the Lopes an edge. GCU sophomore libero Tatum Thomas delivered 26 digs, followed by Mitchell's 12 to achieve her fourth double-double in GCU's six-match season.

"We started well and were able to apply a ton of pressure in Set 1, but showed fatigue in Set 2 while they stepped up their service pressure," Nollan said.

The Lopes (3-3) came out fierce, hitting .364 and holding Arizona to .154 in the first frame. The 25-14 victory was made possible by a momentous 4-0 scoring run, featuring a kill from senior outside hitter Ashley Lifgren at 18-11, an Arizona error at 19-11, a service ace by Wise at 20-11 and a Mitchell solo block at 21-11. Strasser finished off the set with a kill.

"We bounced back in the fourth set and set ourselves up for a good battle in the fifth," Nollan said of his team responding to a 2-1 match hole.

Fighting tooth and nail early in the fourth set with six ties from 1-1 to 8-8, the Lopes broke away with the latter tie being part of a 6-0 run that put GCU ahead 12-8. Junior middle blocker Alissa Uhlenhop added a pair of kills during a 4-0 run that gave the Lopes another cushion at 17-12. Back-to-back Wise kills took the lead to 20-14 before senior outside hitter Stella Gkiourda's ace made it 21-14. For the 25-20 finish, Parrott's set-point kill also evened the match at 2-2.

Arizona got hot in the fifth frame, hitting .524 to GCU's .278, and started with a 3-0 lead that the Lopes were unable to overtake as the Wildcats led 14-7 before a 15-9 final.

GCU travels to Iowa City, Iowa, next weekend for the Hawkeye Invitational, featuring Missouri State, Central Michigan and host Iowa.

"Next weekend, we get another great opportunity to test ourselves at Iowa," Nollan said. "I look for us to rise to the opportunity."