Gutsy 5-set victory at Southern Utah closes GCU trip

Saturday, October 12

Cedar City, Utah

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

12-5,5-1WAC

Southern Utah

8-9,4-2WAC

Grand Canyon

Southern Utah

Photo by: Nathan Peters

10/12/2024 11:14:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Frey provides boost off Lopes bench with 11 kills, 8 digs

By: Nathan Peters

CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team closed out the Utah road trip Saturday with a thrilling five-set victory at Southern Utah.

With a five-match winning streak, GCU (12-5, 5-1 WAC) now has taken sole ownership of second place in the WAC.

"We just finished seven straight days of playing, practicing, traveling, all of it and we never truly had a day off within this stretch over the last seven days," Lopes head coach Kendra Potts said. "I think we all were able to just let out some relief just because we got through a hard stretch of the season."

GCU started out the match leading 4-0 before Southern Utah slowly clawed back and closed the set on a 6-2 run to take the opener 25-21.

The Lopes' positive side of the set was graduate outside hitter Ashley Lifgren hitting at a clip of .455.

GCU's difference-maker during the second set was junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott at the service line.

Parrott went to serve with a 6-2 lead and did not give it up until the lead grew to 12-2 with a run that included back-to-back service aces twice. The Phoenix native finished the match with a career high of five aces.

The Thunderbirds were able to make things close before sophomore outside hitter Ellie Frey subbed in and closed the set 25-21 with a kill, an ace and a Southern Utah error to tie things up at one set each.

"We always talk about our one-seventeenth and that everybody's role matters… you never know when your number's going to be called," Potts said. "Ellie came in and was just that spark, we're always looking for sparks and little glimmers to be able to help carry us through, and she did a lot of big things."

Frey finished the match with 11 kills, eight digs and two blocks.

In the middle of the third set, the Lopes went on a crucial 8-4 run with kills from Parrott, junior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez and senior middle blocker Alissa Uhlenhop. From that run, the team was able to continue the momentum to take the second set 25-19 and lead the match 2-1.

Parrott finished with a match-high 19 kills and eight digs after positing 20 kills and 15 digs on Thursday at Utah Tech.

Ramirez had nine kills with six total blocks while Uhlenhop collected three kills on 11 attempts with six total blocks.

Southern Utah hit .300 in the fourth set and survived a late Lopes surge to take a 25-21 win that evened the match at 2-2.

Playing a five-setter for the first time in conference play, graduate libero Mykenna Nelson teed up a big service ace to put GCU ahead 3-2 early. The Lopes finished the match tying a season best with 10 service aces.

The following three plays went the way of GCU off two massive blocks from senior middle blocker Trista Strasser and a kill from Parrott.

"We're a solid blocking team and that gets us going," Potts said. "Ending a point on a terminal block just feels a little different. I thought Trista being able to get two within the first few points of the fifth set really got our team going and just let us have some confidence within the rest of our game."

Southern Utah climbed back to a 7-7 tie, but with the Lopes leading by one at the side-switch, the confidence showed the rest of the way as consecutive Ramirez kills helped pull the Lopes away to an 11-7 lead. GCU finished the match on a 7-4 run with Frey scoring three of the final four points on kills, two of which were assisted by Taylor Kubacak. The freshman setter had 36 assists and 14 digs Saturday.

"I am super proud of the girls being patient, being able to play long points, and we're always happy to grab wins," Potts said. "But to win in five and in this situation and stretch of season, I'm super proud of the team."

The Lopes will take a much-needed day off Sunday before turning all attention toward a rematch with first-place UT Arlington (16-2, 6-0 WAC) on the road Thursday.