Parrott paces swift sweep of CBU

Monday, October 7

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-5,3-1WAC

California Baptist

1-15,1-3WAC

California Baptist

Grand Canyon

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 7, 2024 : GCU women’s volleyball beats CBU in three sets at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

10/7/2024 8:58:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

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GCU star hits .407 for 14 kills in 2nd match back from injury

By: Paul Coro

If volleyball fans wanted to catch the only Monday night match streaming on ESPN+, they had to look fast.

Grand Canyon made quick work of California Baptist, recording its fourth sweep victory in the past six matches with a 25-11, 25-16, 25-17 conference win that was an 81-minute blur.

GCU (10-5, 3-1 WAC) allowed its lowest opponent scoring total since 2022 and recorded its second consecutive sweep since junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott returned from an ankle sprain.

With a fan flock of Havocs in two parrot inflatable outfits, a parrot costume and a parrot hat, Parrott whistled 14 kills by the Lancers on season-high .407 hitting.

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 7, 2024 : GCU women's volleyball beats CBU in three sets at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

The Preseason WAC Player of the Year set the tone with an opening kill in every set on the way to taking her career total to 949 kills, a GCU Division I-era best and the eighth best of all-time. She is halfway through her junior season with six of the top seven totals taking four seasons. Her career average of 4.06 kills per set ranks fourth among active Division I players.

"After having 2 1/2 weeks off, I've just been grinding and getting myself back to as healthy as I can," said Parrott, who also averaged a season-high three digs per set for the second consecutive match. "It feels good to back with the girls. I feel like I'm back, finally.

"It's hard when you go down and you have to watch what you want to be doing, but I was super supportive of my team and was there for them. I'm just excited to be back."

Parrott was a major part of why GCU enjoyed its second-best hitting of the season at .304, but four other Lopes players contributed five kills or more.

"I still feel like there are pieces to get her to her rhythm," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "It's great to have her back – that steady constant on the court. What I like to see is that the balance she created while she was out is still there."

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 7, 2024 : GCU women's volleyball beats CBU in three sets at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Parrott delivered five kills in the first set while Lopes freshman setter Taylor Kubacak racked up five aces to help GCU cruise to a 25-11 win and 1-0 match start. Kubacak set season highs with three aces in each of the previous two matches but shattered that with seven aces Monday night.

"Taylor's learning that her normal serve is hard to receive," Potts said. "She doesn't have to go for aces. She blows us up every day in practice."

The Lopes did not have an ace in the second set but hit .343 with four kills from junior opposite Magdalena Juric. The 6-foot-4 Croatian finished with five kills, giving her an average of five kills per match in the past six matches after averaging one kill in her first five appearances of the season.

"It stunk that Tatum got hurt, but we knew that was when we were going to find some pieces that maybe we wouldn't have found otherwise," Potts said. "In the season, you want to keep growing. I see the growth. I think they do too, and that's what's fun to see."

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 7, 2024 : GCU women's volleyball beats CBU in three sets at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Juric said she has "loved every second of it here" since transferring from Washington State, where she played in one match last season for the Sweet 16 team that eliminated GCU in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"It helped me to take more leadership on the team because our star player was out," said Juric, who added four block assists Monday. "That put me more in rhythm. We were able to still win without Tatum, so that proved how touch we are and how gritty we are."

The third set was tighter until California Baptist took an 11-8 lead, but one of junior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez's seven kills and two combo blocks by Juric and freshman middle blocker Aubrey Goodere tied the score at 11-11.

Phoenix, AZ Oct. 7, 2024 : GCU women's volleyball beats CBU in three sets at Global Credit Union Arena. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Still tied at 14-14, GCU broke open the third set on Kubacak's serve. She added her sixth and seventh aces while Parrott and senior middle blocker Trista Strasser each pounded a pair of kills for seven unanswered points.

The Lopes closed out the 25-17 set and match sweep with a Goodere solo block, which was the 6-foot-3 Goodyear, Arizona, native's sixth of the match. She has 15 blocks in the past two matches for her best consecutive blocking matches of the season.

GCU entered the match ranked 12th nationally for blocks per set (2.83).

"I love that our block is just a problem for people," Potts said. "It's frustrating for a hitter when you feel like you don't have a lot of space to move. Even though it was a quiet statistic night, we did get a lot of touches. So we're slowing the ball down at the net. A lot of hitting errors CBU had tonight was them trying to avoid our block."

Most of GCU's digs came in the final set, as Parrott, senior outside hitter Ashley Lifgren, senior libero Mykenna Nelson and freshman setter Olivia Price each finished the match with nine digs.

The Lopes play their next three matches on the road, starting with a Utah trip for a Thursday match at Southern Utah and Saturday match at Utah Tech. Their next home match will be Oct. 19 vs. Tarleton State.