Consistent play turns dominant in sweep of Nevada

Saturday, November 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-8,7-5Mountain West

Nevada

7-15,3-9Mountain West

Nevada

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Josh Cale

11/1/2025 5:46:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score

GCU Senior Day celebrates Goodman, Parlanti, Ramirez with Lopes' 7th win in 8 matches

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon volleyball is making a habit of winning.

The Lopes are showing up match over match with a consistency that is rolling small actions into big results. On Saturday's Senior Day at Global Credit Union Arena, GCU won its most dominant set since 2013 amid a 25-13, 25-7, 25-23 sweep of Nevada.

In-game celebration

The Lopes' seventh win in their past eight matches pushed them into a three-way tie for fourth place in the Mountain West with six regular-season conference matches remaining.

GCU (15-8, 7-5 MW) held Nevada to .016 hitting, the Lopes' second-lowest opponent clip of the season and the Wolf Pack's lowest hitting percentage in two years.

"We're just trying to create a way of, 'This is how we play,' " GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "We played well. We're at a point of the season where we want to know how we're going to show up. I was happy that we've been able to put four in a row together of just solid play."

Nevada led 3-2 in the first set and never again in the match. GCU dominated the first two sets, when the Lopes only made two attack errors as the Wolf Pack was contained to sub-zero hitting in each set.

The Lopes defense asserted itself in the first set with 10 digs from junior libero Bella Anderson and five team blocks.

With GCU outscoring Nevada 50-20 over the first two sets, the Wolf Pack only scored 13 points that were not given on Lopes service errors.

"That has a lot to do with our block," Potts said. "The defense behind the block showed up and made it even more frustrating that, when they finally did hit around our block, our defense showed up. That's really frustrating because the hitter just doesn't feel like she has anything open to swing at."

GCU seniors Hayden Goodman, Sophia Parlanti and Anaelena Ramirez were honored before the match. With all three in the starting lineup, they kept showing up on the court throughout the sweep.

Goodman, a middle blocker, tallied five blocks, five digs and three kills while Parlanti, an outside hitter, put down seven kills.

Goodman and Parlanti were offseason graduate transfers, but Ramirez has been part of the program for four years with massive growth in her game under Potts. The 6-foot-2 outside hitter has tallied 503 of her 635 career kills in the past two seasons.

Ramirez delivered per usual Saturday with a team-high 15 kills, even with the emotions of Senior Day and walking out with parents who regularly make the six-hour drive from El Paso, Texas.

"I have Coach Kendra to thank for that," said Ramirez, who hit .371 on Saturday with two errors on 35 swings. "On Tuesday, we go in for our pulse checks. Usually in these bigger moments, I can get a little nervous, and she just told me to start visualizing and prepping and to be able to lean on teammates when things do get bigger. The first three rotations that I subbed out, I was able to take a good deep breath, like, 'OK, I don't have to do this by myself. I have my teammates.' "

Ramirez delivered five kills in GCU's 25-13 first set and was on the floor as the Lopes scored the first 12 points in the second set with sophomore defensive specialist Natalie Guerrero serving. Ramirez accounted for half of the 12-0 start with four kills and two blocks.

"That epitomizes the road she's had," Potts said. "This is the growth we all get to witness from her. Her story is just incredible."

GCU continued clicking throughout the set, winning eight of its last 10 points on kills. Freshman opposite/setter Bella Nunez's first three kills of the match came during that close to the 25-7 set, and she finished the match with nine kills, 15 assists, six digs and four block assists.

The final set was tighter, with Nevada pushing the set to a 22-22 tie before sophomore setting Taylor Kubacak set Ramirez once and Nunez twice for the closing kills to a match with .325 team hitting --- GCU's fourth-highest clip of the season.

Anaelena Ramirez

From a Thursday match to a Friday practice in Halloween costumes to the ceremonies of Senior Day, the Lopes remained locked in.

"That is a tribute to our seniors," Potts said. "They did a good job keeping everybody locked in and saying, 'Yes, it's Senior Day, but it's also our day.' I am really proud that we were able to do that for them on this day, and everybody wanted to play for them."

GCU is tied with San Diego State and Boise State for fourth place in Mountain West at 7-5 with third-place Wyoming just a game ahead at 8-4. The Lopes stay home next week with a Thursday match against San Diego State and a Saturday home finale against UNLV.

"This is my last year, and I'm so grateful for it," Ramirez said. "It can be a little bit overwhelming, but I'm not done yet. We have three weeks of season and the Mountain West Championship is around the corner. We're just going to keep fighting tooth and nail as a team to keep going as far as we can.

"We're starting slowly to climb up, and I don't think this team has reached its peak yet."