Lopes throw 1st punch, finish with 3-1 victory

Friday, September 13

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-3,0-0WAC

Portland State

0-7,0-0Big Sky

Portland St.

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

9/13/2024 11:11:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Return of Lifgren proves memorable with 12 kills, 0 errors on 23 attempts

By: Nathan Peters

The Grand Canyon women's volleyball team had an exhilarating home return as the Lopes defeated Portland State 25-21, 24-26, 25-12, 25-17 on Friday night at Global Credit Union Arena.

Not only did the Lopes get the victory but they also got back Preseason All-WAC outside hitter Ashley Lifgren after she missed the previous three matches for injury.

"It was good to get 'Leaf' (Lifgren) back," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "She had such a great preseason, and It was a bummer that health got in the way of it, but being able to just see her play free and enjoy herself on the court, I think everybody on the team enjoyed seeing her out there."

The Peoria, Arizona, native tallied 12 kills without an error on 23 attempts.

"She deserves that kind of night for sure," Potts said.

GCU (4-3) completed the strong victory while executing major points of emphasis throughout the evening.

The Lopes opened the match on a 5-0 run with sophomore libero Bella Anderson at the service line. Three of the five points came from Anderson service aces that forced an early Portland State timeout.

"We have been starting slow, so tonight it was big for us to throw the first punch and be able to start off on top and make another team try to come back," Potts said. "We wanted to make sure we could start strong in the game, start strong out of timeouts and start strong out of sets. Bella kicked it off."

The Scottsdale, Arizona, native finished the night with a career high five aces on the match.

GCU closed the opening set 25-21 on 15 kills with a hitting percentage of .314.

Portland State only outhit the Lopes in the second set Friday, when the Vikings evened the match by winning 26-24 on .222 hitting percentage.

GCU showed discipline in the third set, when they bounced back with a 16-4 run to close out a 25-12 set with the help of three kills by junior middle blocker Trista Strasser.

Strasser also was a major part of the Lopes defense that held the Vikings to -.053 hitting in the set.

"Trista is always going to have an added presence," Potts said. "She really cares about the defensive side of things, and she just wants to be physical."

Strasser finished with nine kills and a match-high six blocks.

"I love that we're gaining more trust to give her a ball offensively, being able to have that as a factor is huge and it can just create some offensive balance for all of us," Potts said.

GCU freshman setter Taylor Kubacak delivered 37 assists with 11 digs.

Senior middle blocker Alissa Uhlenhop also was a difference maker in her returning match from injury.

"I was really happy about Alissa being able to get out there and help out," Potts said. "She made a difference, created some positive block touches and was smart offensively, so it was really great to see her back."

The senior had two kills on six attempts with two blocks.

The Lopes trailed 9-6 early in the fourth before a 9-1 run propelled them to 15-10 lead. They never looked back from there with junior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez kills accounting for three consecutive points on the way to a 25-17 set win and 3-1 match victory.

GCU received a match-high 15 kills from junior outside hitter Tatum Parrott along with a productive night from Ramirez with nine kills.

The Lopes will be back in action to face Butler Saturday night at 7 in Global Credit Union Arena. The Bulldogs lost 3-0 to Pacific in the early match Friday.