Focus follows Potts' lead to reach NCAAs repeat

Friday, August 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Montana

Photo by: Jack Gilday

8/29/2024 7:00:00 AM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

New head coach guides GCU into season opener Friday at full arena

By: Paul Coro

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team does not just practice serves, sets, spikes and stuffs.

The Lopes practice gratitude.

When the team gathers daily on the practice court to prepare for Friday night's season opener, each GCU player and staffer writes a gratitude and an intention on a dry erase board.

The Lopes' day-to-day focus rolls into a greater gratitude and intention – gratefulness for being the WAC preseason favorite for the first time with an intention for a repeat trip to the NCAA tournament.

With new head coach Kendra Potts, GCU starts its big dream on a big stage – a full Global Credit Union Arena for a match against Montana at 7 p.m. Friday as part of Lope-A-Palooza, the campus year's kickoff for students.

"I'm pumped that they got this nod as WAC favorite," said Potts, who led Division II national championship and runner-up teams in the past two years at West Texas A&M. "I think it says a lot about last year's team and last year's seniors and the way they left it.

"Thank you for the respect, but I'm telling our team to be pumped. It's a privilege to be a target. Let's be a moving target. Let's be hard to figure out. Let's be evolving every day."

That respect comes with returning last season's three top scorers in WAC Preseason Player of the Year Tatum Parrott, fellow outside hitter Ashley Lifgren and middle blocker Alissa Uhlenhop.

Volleyball huddle

But with a three-home match weekend that includes playing Oregon State at 7 p.m. Saturday and Fresno State at 2 p.m. Sunday, Potts will flex the strength of having a balanced 17-player roster with eight newcomers.

"Now I feel like I am theirs and they are mine," said Potts, who has an .839 winning percentage. "This is who we are. It feels good. That took time."

It started over the summer in GCU's Cactus Apartments, where teammates resided during offseason workouts with each front door open so they could come and go like one home.

New and old Lopes bonded quickly, as sports performance coach Chase Taylor put their strength and conditioning ahead of the curve and Potts invested in non-volleyball talks that built trust.

Tatum Parrott

"She's very real," Parrott said of Potts. "That's what I like in a coach. Don't sugarcoat it. Just tell me what I have to do. She really helps me grow to the next level and believes that I can."

Parrott, a 6-foot junior outside hitter from Phoenix, grew to another level last season with her power and poise creating the production of the nation's seventh-leading scorer (5.4 points per set).

Lifgren gives Potts a second outside hitter with proven experience, but the position has depth with sophomore Ellie Frey improving and redshirt freshman Emma Wegleitner returning from knee surgery and rehabilitation.

"I love the leadership role Tatum is forming," Potts said. "She is making others play at a higher level just because of who she is and what she says to them. She's encouraging them. If Tatum Parrott says, 'Good job,' you kind of feel invincible."

Potts also knew the Lopes needed to create better balance offensively to limit how often opponents key on Parrott.

At opposite, 6-2 junior Anaelena Ramirez is moving from part-time starter to a season-opening one with 6-4 junior Magdalena Juric, a Washington State transfer, showing a high ceiling and 6-foot freshman Mariana Buchanan of Houston adapting quickly on the right side.

The pins could score off a 6-2 or 5-1 system because of a three-setter roster with graduate Ava Mason and freshmen Olivia Price of Normal, Illinois, and Taylor Kubacak of Kerrville, Texas. Kubacak's location consistency has made her the season-opening replacement for the legendary career of Klaire Mitchell.

The middle features the maturity and experience of Uhlenhop and junior middle blocker Trista Strasser, who each averaged 1.1 blocks per set last season. Freshman Aubrey Goodere, from nearby Estrella Foothills High School, can contribute to the blocking group at 6 feet 3.

The defense has Parrott's former Greenway High School and club teammate, Mykenna Nelson, at libero after not playing since she was the 2022 WAC leader in digs per set (5.12) for Utah Tech.

"Even playing against GCU when I was at Utah Tech, I was like, 'That school is pretty lit. I want to be there,' " Nelson said. "They were always so much fun to watch and they played at a high level. Playing in my hometown with a great team that is super-hungry to go for a back-to-back title is just an awesome opportunity."

Sophomore Bella Anderson is competing closely with Nelson, as the pair mentors freshmen Kaia Herweg of Long Beach, California, and Hunter West of Wausa, Nebraska.

"There's a high level of grit on this team, as far as the will to keep the ball off the ground," Potts said. "How we celebrate each other has been really cool. We talk about being altruistic teammates, and being proud of each other."

WVB practice on 03/05/24

The returnees still yearn for the program's first WAC regular-season championship in GCU's last season in the conference before moving to the West Coast Conference next year.

Last season, GCU tore through the WAC Tournament for its first NCAA Division I tournament berth, taking two sweeps before ending Stephen F. Austin's 18-match winning streak with a 3-1 championship match victory.

"All the pieces are there," Parrott said. "It's hard losing Klaire, but we have three great setters and they're working their butts off to fill that spot. I think we'll be just as good, probably even better because we still have that culture that we work toward every day as a team."

Potts has been on the job for six months with assistant coaches Casey Shingler, Evan Larson and Ryan Vorderer, but this is the weekend they might learn the most about their team after three matches in Global Credit Union Arena, including the recent tradition of playing an opener in front of 7,000 students. The Friday night match also will broadcast on FOX 10 Xtra locally and stream on ESPN+.

"Our girls are going to have nerves," Potts said. "Nerves are good. That means your body is prepared to perform. We want them to feel prepared and then the nerves can be healthy. We want them to feel confident that they're going to crush it."