Completed Event: Volleyball at Fresno State on October 25, 2025 , Win , 3, to, 0
Volleyball
at Fresno State
W 3-0
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, November 6
Phoenix, Ariz.
6 p.m.
Grand Canyon
15-9,7-6Mountain West
2
vs
3
San Diego State
13-11,8-5Mountain West
1
2
3
4
5
F
San Diego St.
14
25
10
25
17
3
Grand Canyon
25
20
25
16
15
2
Photo by: Brayden Stenner
SDSU ekes out 5-set win at GCU
11/6/2025 9:53:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro
Parlanti's 14 kills highlight outscoring, outhitting Aztecs for match
On a night when Grand Canyon played some of its best volleyball, the Lopes won most of the points Thursday night but left Global Credit Union Arena thinking about the key ones that they did not get.
It is hard to recall a match but easy to remember moments, and those were the ones that washed away GCU outscoring, outhitting and blocking San Diego State.
The Aztecs won 14-25, 25-20, 10-25, 25-16, 17-15 to break a fourth-place tie with the Lopes in the Mountain West with five regular-season matches remaining. GCU (15-9, 7-6 MW) now has a key final home match Saturday to stave off UNLV, which pulled within a game of the Lopes by sweeping New Mexico.
"It's the weirdest box score ever, but you've got to give San Diego State credit," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "That's the crazy game of volleyball. You can lose two sets really bad, but you can find a way to win three. I really respect their game.
"I do think it came down to simple moments that could've change the outcome. This is what we're learning about November. It's how you manage moments."
GCU outhit San Diego State .223 to .156 and made five more blocks, but the match came down to a fifth set that included 10 ties. From 8-8 to 15-15, the Lopes rallied for a point that created six of those deadlocks but could not take the lead.
Miscommunications and defensive errors led to GCU being susceptible to its last swing going wide for the Aztecs' 17-15 closeout.
"We've been working really hard on changing one points to two points," said Lopes graduate outside hitter Sophia Parlanti, whose 14 kills were one shy of her season high from Sept. 12 vs. Drake. "Get one more dig. Get one more hit in. Get one more touch on the block just to survive. We did a great job doing that, but we were literally just an inch from taking the win."
GCU opened the match the way it had been playing to win seven of its last eight matches and 12 of its last 14 sets. With a 6-0 run keyed by two kills and a block from freshman middle blocker Aubrey Bellus, the Lopes led 8-3 and kept adding chunky runs until senior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez put down her fourth kill for a 25-14 win.
GCU also outhit San Diego State in the second set, but the Aztecs (13-11, 8-5 MW) led 18-17 before not allowing another Lopes kill. During SDSU's 7-3 finish to the 25-20 set, GCU made two attack errors and two service errors to lead to the Aztecs knotting the match at 1-1.
The Lopes rebounded dominantly with Parlanti and freshman setter/opposite Bella Nunez recording five kills apiece in the set. A 7-0 run, capped by a Parlanti block, put GCU ahead 18-8 and Nunez hit a roll to help a 6-0 run.
Another Parlanti kill from the left pin finished off the .333-hitting set for a 25-10 win and 2-1 match lead.
"It's honestly surreal," Parlanti said of when the Lopes play that well. "it feels nice, but you also want to know that a team like that can come back at any point. So you can't let your foot off the gas. You've got to keep rolling."
Just as GCU flipped a 2-1 deficit with fourth- and fifth-set wins at San Diego State on Oct. 16, the Aztecs began their fourth- and fifth-set wins by shaking off the Lopes; 4-0 start to the fourth with .400 hitting and five blocks in the 25-16 set.
"We're a tight team and we love each other, but we need to understand that the team playing against us is probably a tight team that loves each other," Potts said. "And they're going to fight for each other. It was a great match. That fifth set is everything that you want it to be. We want it to go our way, but it's good for us to be in those moments and be able to bounce back from this."
GCU last led the final set at 6-5 on a block from Nunez, who finished with 12 kills, 14 assists, eight digs and six blocks.
From there, it was a volley of San Diego State taking leads and GCU shaving them away until Parlanti's kill tied it for the last time at 15-15. A San Diego State touch kill fell between Lopes, and a hitting error ended the match.
Ramirez was second to Parlanti with 12 kills and Bellus added a nine-kill, eight-block line. Lopes junior libero Bella Anderson tallied 19 digs.
A chance for GCU to atone comes at 1 p.m. Saturday against UNLV in Global Credit Union Arena.
"If we manage this well and learn from this loss, the loss is not a loss," Potts said. "We're going to gain from it."
It is hard to recall a match but easy to remember moments, and those were the ones that washed away GCU outscoring, outhitting and blocking San Diego State.
The Aztecs won 14-25, 25-20, 10-25, 25-16, 17-15 to break a fourth-place tie with the Lopes in the Mountain West with five regular-season matches remaining. GCU (15-9, 7-6 MW) now has a key final home match Saturday to stave off UNLV, which pulled within a game of the Lopes by sweeping New Mexico."It's the weirdest box score ever, but you've got to give San Diego State credit," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "That's the crazy game of volleyball. You can lose two sets really bad, but you can find a way to win three. I really respect their game.
"I do think it came down to simple moments that could've change the outcome. This is what we're learning about November. It's how you manage moments."
GCU outhit San Diego State .223 to .156 and made five more blocks, but the match came down to a fifth set that included 10 ties. From 8-8 to 15-15, the Lopes rallied for a point that created six of those deadlocks but could not take the lead.
Miscommunications and defensive errors led to GCU being susceptible to its last swing going wide for the Aztecs' 17-15 closeout.
"We've been working really hard on changing one points to two points," said Lopes graduate outside hitter Sophia Parlanti, whose 14 kills were one shy of her season high from Sept. 12 vs. Drake. "Get one more dig. Get one more hit in. Get one more touch on the block just to survive. We did a great job doing that, but we were literally just an inch from taking the win."GCU opened the match the way it had been playing to win seven of its last eight matches and 12 of its last 14 sets. With a 6-0 run keyed by two kills and a block from freshman middle blocker Aubrey Bellus, the Lopes led 8-3 and kept adding chunky runs until senior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez put down her fourth kill for a 25-14 win.
GCU also outhit San Diego State in the second set, but the Aztecs (13-11, 8-5 MW) led 18-17 before not allowing another Lopes kill. During SDSU's 7-3 finish to the 25-20 set, GCU made two attack errors and two service errors to lead to the Aztecs knotting the match at 1-1.
The Lopes rebounded dominantly with Parlanti and freshman setter/opposite Bella Nunez recording five kills apiece in the set. A 7-0 run, capped by a Parlanti block, put GCU ahead 18-8 and Nunez hit a roll to help a 6-0 run.
Another Parlanti kill from the left pin finished off the .333-hitting set for a 25-10 win and 2-1 match lead.
"It's honestly surreal," Parlanti said of when the Lopes play that well. "it feels nice, but you also want to know that a team like that can come back at any point. So you can't let your foot off the gas. You've got to keep rolling."
Just as GCU flipped a 2-1 deficit with fourth- and fifth-set wins at San Diego State on Oct. 16, the Aztecs began their fourth- and fifth-set wins by shaking off the Lopes; 4-0 start to the fourth with .400 hitting and five blocks in the 25-16 set.
"We're a tight team and we love each other, but we need to understand that the team playing against us is probably a tight team that loves each other," Potts said. "And they're going to fight for each other. It was a great match. That fifth set is everything that you want it to be. We want it to go our way, but it's good for us to be in those moments and be able to bounce back from this."
GCU last led the final set at 6-5 on a block from Nunez, who finished with 12 kills, 14 assists, eight digs and six blocks.
From there, it was a volley of San Diego State taking leads and GCU shaving them away until Parlanti's kill tied it for the last time at 15-15. A San Diego State touch kill fell between Lopes, and a hitting error ended the match.
Ramirez was second to Parlanti with 12 kills and Bellus added a nine-kill, eight-block line. Lopes junior libero Bella Anderson tallied 19 digs.
A chance for GCU to atone comes at 1 p.m. Saturday against UNLV in Global Credit Union Arena.
"If we manage this well and learn from this loss, the loss is not a loss," Potts said. "We're going to gain from it."
Team Stats
SDSU
GCU
Kills
52
54
Errors
28
21
Attempts
154
148
Hitting %
.156
.223
Points
68.0
73.0
Assists
50
48
Aces
7
5
Blocks
9
14
Game Leaders
Kills
14
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
12
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
9
Aces
1
Blocks
8
Players Mentioned
LIB
/ VolleyballMB
/ VolleyballS
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballOH
/ VolleyballBella Nunez | Women's Volleyball
Monday, November 10
Kendra Potts Post Match Press Conference | GCU vs NAU 9.7.25
Monday, September 08
“You don’t know what it’s like.” | The Lope-a-Palooza Experience
Saturday, August 30
Bella Nunez & Sophia Parlanti Press Conference | GCU vs LIU | August 29, 2025
Saturday, August 30