Rally rolls into sweep for memorable start in full arena

Friday, August 30

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0,0-0WAC

Montana

0-1,0-0Big Sky

Montana

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jack Gilday

Rally rolls into sweep for memorable start in full arena

8/30/2024 10:35:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

Record crowd watches Potts win her 1st match as GCU head coach in style

By: Paul Coro

The eight new Grand Canyon players, the three new GCU coaches and the overwhelming number of GCU freshmen in a record-setting, cacophonic crowd of 7,152 will never forget their first Lopes women's volleyball match.

There was enough for a core memory with the electric environment that began with afternoon lines of Havocs outside Global Credit Union Arena and continued with Friday night's rave-like pregame fervor.

But the Lopes did so much more in pulling away from Montana for a 27-25, 25-18, 25-9 triumph in head coach Kendra Potts' GCU debut.

After not scoring more than two consecutive points to get pushed to a first-set cliff's edge at 24-18, the Lopes dug in there to fight off six consecutive Montana set points and swipe the first frame along with momentum that took off like a rocket.

"I will never forget that set," said GCU freshman setter Taylor Kubacak, whose team's largest first-set deficit was 18-10. "Coming back from eight points down is crazy. But that's what the Lopes do, I guess."

For returnees like junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott on her 17-kill night, the Lopes' hot play was reminiscent of when they tore through the WAC Tournament to reach their first NCAA Division I tournament last season.

With finishing that first set on a 9-1 run Friday night, GCU continued to be in command to stretch it into a 19-5 run that rolled into a 10-4 lead to open the second set.

Faced with that 24-18 deficit, the Lopes were able to turn to their 2023 All-America honorable mention to start her 2024 campaign. Parrott opened the rally with a kill that moved her to the service line.

GCU sophomore outside hitter Ellie Frey, who had six kills last season, had two of her Friday night's 11 kills during that rally. The Lopes' blocking game stepped up with the presence of senior middle blocker Trista Strasser, freshman opposite Mariana Buchanan and freshman middle blocker Aubrey Goodere thwarting the Grizzlies at the net.

Kendra Potts

"For me, it was like, 'Let's not try to play the score. Let's just see if we can actually chip away. Let's see if we can end with momentum,' " Potts said. "For them to steal that set, that's a big thing to happen early in the season. You're finding ways to claw back and win a set like that in your first match of the season? The growth there is exciting."

Parrott delivered blazing attacks to hit .308 for the match. She nailed kills on four points of a 5-1 run that put GCU ahead 15-7 in the second set. Montana never threatened again, as Strasser slipped left for a block and Parrott came out of the back row for a kill to end the set.

"It's insane," said Kubacak, a native of Kerrville Texas, in talking about the Lopes offense. "It's like I have my own weaponry. Wherever I put it, it's going to be great. I just try to get them good balls because they're going to smash it."

The third set was a Frey highlight reel. The Fort Wayne, Indiana, native put down kills on three of GCU's first five points and followed the last one by holding serve for a 12-0 Lopes run that ballooned the lead to 16-4.

In that stretch, Frey served five aces with four of them coming consecutively. The match turned early on the Lopes' aggression at the service line, along with more physical blocking and vanishing nerves.

Phoenix, AZ - August 30, 2024, GCU Women's Volleyball defeats Montana 3-0 on sets and celebrates at Lope-A-Palooza.

Phoenix, AZ - August 30, 2024, GCU Women's Volleyball defeats Montana 3-0 on sets and celebrates at Lope-A-Palooza.

"Our serve really helped us," Potts said. "I think we got Montana trying to do too much. Our serve is our weapon. We struggle every day with serve receive in the practice gym and I'm always praying that we're this good of a service team. And I feel like we are."

The Lopes hit .375 in the dominant final set as Kubacak ran her match totals to 27 assists and 11 digs. GCU's team block assists tally landed at 18 with the freshman pair of Buchanan and Goodere recording six and five, respectively.

"We do have true depth," Potts said of her 17-player roster. "I love that Mari could step in and be that depth. We're going to have to be able to do that stuff all year long. That's why we always go back to the 1/17th. You know your number's going to be called."

The Lopes also have one of the best home-court advantages in the nation. Since 2020, GCU is 46-11 at Global Credit Union Arena. But with the university holding its Welcome Week's Lope-A-Palooza event following Friday's season opener, the student crowd made for a memorable night of "Swag Surfin'" Havocs who alternated between "G-C-U" and "Private, Christian, Affordable" chants with each Lopes player's touch on a ball.

GCU's preseason training had been amid a desolate summer campus. Then, thousands of the Lopes' new classmates moved in this week.

Havocs

"When the stands were filled all the way to the ceiling, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is real. This is insane,' " Kubacak said of taking the court before the match. "I've never been in this atmosphere before."

The crowd stayed raucous even when doubt of the impending outcome was gone.

A play in which graduate libero Mykenna Nelson and sophomore libero Bella Anderson continuously dug up balls drew the largest roar when the rally finished with Parrott spiking off Goodere's set.

"There's nothing like it," said Potts, who joined the Lope-A-Palooza crowd after the match with her family. "I told the girls when we first got out there, 'Take it in. Enjoy the crowd. This is not something that a lot of people get to experience.' And then as we got to the buzzer to start the game, all that mattered was the 17 of them.

"I had an idea of what it would be like. Everybody was trying to prepare me for the crowd. I watched every single YouTube thing I could find to prepare myself. I just have so much gratitude. GCU is teaching me a lot. I'm very grateful that I'm here."

The Lopes return to Global Credit Union Arena for a 7 p.m. Saturday match against Oregon State and a 2 p.m. Sunday match against Fresno State. Oregon State defeated Fresno State 21-25, 25-20, 28-26, 25-22 earlier Friday.