Completed Event: Volleyball versus Northern Arizona on September 7, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3
Volleyball
vs Northern Arizona
L 1-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Saturday, October 26
Phoenix, Ariz.
2 p.m.
Grand Canyon
14-8,7-3WAC
3
vs
1
Southern Utah
8-13,4-6WAC
1
2
3
4
F
Southern Utah
24
14
25
19
1
Grand Canyon
26
25
22
25
3
Photo by: Jayden Todd
Lopes down Southern Utah in 4 at home
10/26/2024 6:27:00 PM | Volleyball
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The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team closed out the weekend homestand with a four-set victory over Southern Utah at Global Credit Union Arena on Saturday.
With the victory, the Lopes (14-8, 7-3 WAC) remain tied for second-place tie with Utah Valley with three weeks remaining before the WAC Tournament.
GCU hit .305, its second-best clip of the season, with junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott leading a balanced attack with 15 kills and 13 digs. The Lopes are 11-0 when hitting at least .230 this season.
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Frey, who finished with seven kills and two blocks, landed an early kill to cap a 6-1 GCU run that put the Lopes ahead 10-5 in the first set.
"Ellie has always been that dependable piece in whatever role she needs," Lopes head coach Kendra Potts said. "She even says that in her intentions every day. That's just the definition of a perfect teammate. She is always giving, and she's always prepared regardless of what we're asking her to do."
The first set stayed tight until a 24-24 deadlock before Parrott landed a kill and freshman setter Taylor Kubacak dished a set-sealing service ace.
"Tatum's a baller," Potts said. "We don't need to ignore the load that she carries day in and day out. We are always appreciative of her and what I love is that I feel like pieces around her are able to relieve a little bit of that responsibility that she has."
Parrott hit at a clip of .245 and added three service aces.
GCU went on a 7-3 run early in the second set to lead 17-3. At 21-13, Lopes junior opposite Magdalena Juric notched her fifth kill on.714 hitting to force a Southern Utah timeout.
"We knew we needed to give the ball to MJ more on Thursday, and that was a big thing," Potts said. "We had to get her going. She needs to be a part of the offense, not just a blocking matchup, but she needs to be able to terminate and we saw what she could do tonight."
Juric finished with eight kills on 14 attempts along with four blocks.
"Hopefully, we can build some momentum on that and have some more offense and balance moving forward," Potts said.
GCU closed the set 25-14 on senior middle blocker Trista Strasser's kill from senior setter Ava Mason. Strasser had nine kills and five blocks.
The Lopes battled late in the third set, but a kill from Andrea Spasojevic put the Thunderbirds (8-13, 4-6 WAC) on the board with a 25-22 set win that cut GCU's match lead to 2-1.
Lopes freshman middle blocker Aubrey Goodere made her return from an ankle injury that has kept her out of play since the Oct. 7 California Baptist match.
Goodere reset the Lopes by opening the first set with a kill and made a significant impact on the match with six kills and six blocks.
"I'm really happy with what Alyssa (Uhlenhop) provides for us, but getting Aubrey back and seeing what she does at the net, her block alone, it was really good to get her back," Potts said. "Getting all your pieces back feels good because then you have options. Seeing Aubrey go out there and ball out today was awesome."
Southern Utah was forced to call a timeout when it had two service errors in three points, putting the GCU lead at 12-8.
The Lopes' service game was strong Saturday behind six aces to the Thunderbirds' one. In addition, Southern Utah made 16 service errors.
"What I appreciate is that they're probably thinking that they have to serve aggressive to knock us out of system, so I think what our hitters are doing to create those service errors is an attribute to how effective they can be," Potts said. "I am proud that we can make a team want to feel like they need to serve aggressive against us. I really appreciate how we're being aggressive out there, but we're not being out of control."
The Lopes held the distance and closed the set on a thundering Parrott kill down the line to win 25-19.
GCU will hit the road next to face Abilene Christian on Thursday before a match at Tarleton State on Nov. 2.
With the victory, the Lopes (14-8, 7-3 WAC) remain tied for second-place tie with Utah Valley with three weeks remaining before the WAC Tournament.
GCU hit .305, its second-best clip of the season, with junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott leading a balanced attack with 15 kills and 13 digs. The Lopes are 11-0 when hitting at least .230 this season.
Sophomore outside hitter Ellie Frey, who finished with seven kills and two blocks, landed an early kill to cap a 6-1 GCU run that put the Lopes ahead 10-5 in the first set.
"Ellie has always been that dependable piece in whatever role she needs," Lopes head coach Kendra Potts said. "She even says that in her intentions every day. That's just the definition of a perfect teammate. She is always giving, and she's always prepared regardless of what we're asking her to do."
The first set stayed tight until a 24-24 deadlock before Parrott landed a kill and freshman setter Taylor Kubacak dished a set-sealing service ace.
"Tatum's a baller," Potts said. "We don't need to ignore the load that she carries day in and day out. We are always appreciative of her and what I love is that I feel like pieces around her are able to relieve a little bit of that responsibility that she has."
Parrott hit at a clip of .245 and added three service aces.
GCU went on a 7-3 run early in the second set to lead 17-3. At 21-13, Lopes junior opposite Magdalena Juric notched her fifth kill on.714 hitting to force a Southern Utah timeout.
"We knew we needed to give the ball to MJ more on Thursday, and that was a big thing," Potts said. "We had to get her going. She needs to be a part of the offense, not just a blocking matchup, but she needs to be able to terminate and we saw what she could do tonight."
Juric finished with eight kills on 14 attempts along with four blocks.
"Hopefully, we can build some momentum on that and have some more offense and balance moving forward," Potts said.
GCU closed the set 25-14 on senior middle blocker Trista Strasser's kill from senior setter Ava Mason. Strasser had nine kills and five blocks.
The Lopes battled late in the third set, but a kill from Andrea Spasojevic put the Thunderbirds (8-13, 4-6 WAC) on the board with a 25-22 set win that cut GCU's match lead to 2-1.
Lopes freshman middle blocker Aubrey Goodere made her return from an ankle injury that has kept her out of play since the Oct. 7 California Baptist match.
Goodere reset the Lopes by opening the first set with a kill and made a significant impact on the match with six kills and six blocks.
"I'm really happy with what Alyssa (Uhlenhop) provides for us, but getting Aubrey back and seeing what she does at the net, her block alone, it was really good to get her back," Potts said. "Getting all your pieces back feels good because then you have options. Seeing Aubrey go out there and ball out today was awesome."
Southern Utah was forced to call a timeout when it had two service errors in three points, putting the GCU lead at 12-8.
The Lopes' service game was strong Saturday behind six aces to the Thunderbirds' one. In addition, Southern Utah made 16 service errors.
"What I appreciate is that they're probably thinking that they have to serve aggressive to knock us out of system, so I think what our hitters are doing to create those service errors is an attribute to how effective they can be," Potts said. "I am proud that we can make a team want to feel like they need to serve aggressive against us. I really appreciate how we're being aggressive out there, but we're not being out of control."
The Lopes held the distance and closed the set on a thundering Parrott kill down the line to win 25-19.
GCU will hit the road next to face Abilene Christian on Thursday before a match at Tarleton State on Nov. 2.
Team Stats
SUU
GCU
Kills
59
50
Errors
26
11
Attempts
156
128
Hitting %
.212
.305
Points
61.0
69.5
Assists
52
45
Aces
1
6
Blocks
1
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
15
Aces
3
Blocks
3
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
8
Aces
0
Blocks
4
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
/ Volleyball
OPP
/ Volleyball
S
/ Volleyball
OH
/ Volleyball
MB
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