Lope-A-Palooza becomes Point-A-Palooza for sweep

Friday, August 29

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0,0-0Mountain West

Long Island

0-1,0-0NEC

LIU

Grand Canyon

Photo by: David Kadlubowski

8/29/2025 10:30:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU shows off more balanced attack with sweep, Nunez's record debut

By: Paul Coro

Returning Grand Canyon volleyball players told 15 newcomers about the sound-and-sight spectacle of the Lopes' season opener annually mashing with campus welcome Lope-A-Palooza.

But until they saw half the crowd arrive for the previous match and felt the Global Credit Union Arena floor shaking from hopping Havocs, the Lopes did not fully get what a volleyball rave could feel like.

And the crowd of 7,114 fans did not fully understand how good GCU can be until the Lopes showed midseason precision in sweeping Northeast Conference favorite Long Island on Thursday night.

"I was like, 'Oh my gosh, it looks like a major, pro volleyball kind of style," said Lopes outside hitter Sophia Parlanti, an Indianapolis graduate transfer who posted a team-high 12 kills. "It just was so unreal."

GCU hit .393 in a 25-13, 26-24, 25-13 unveiling of a 6-2 system in which the Lopes' balanced attack kept the Sharks on a see-saw defensively. The Lopes hit better than .393 once last season.

In a three-set match, six Lopes hit double-digit attacks with freshman Bella Nunez setting the program's Division I-era record for hitting percentage (10-attempt minimum). Nunez, a 5-foot-11 setter/hitter, recorded eight kills with no errors on 10 swings, and the El Paso, Texas, native added 16 assists and 12 digs in her collegiate debut.

"The polish, the overall game," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "I don't think she knows what she just did. She's very humble and hungry. I think we're going to be talking about Bella Nunez a lot this season."

Nunez confirmed.

"I had no clue," Nunez said of her stat line. "I was in shock."

Long Island appeared shocked when GCU opened the match with a 4-0 lead featuring a pair of kills by junior opposite Anaelena Ramirez and junior middle blocker Aubrey Goodere's block and kill.

With Nunez posting seven assists, eight digs and three kills in the set, the Lopes kept control and finished the 25-13 win with five consecutive points, started by Parlanti's two kills and a block and finished by freshman opposite Macey Hughes' two blocks on Nunez sets.

Celebration with Bella Anderson — Bella Anderson

Set point came on picture-perfect system work from junior libero Bella Anderson digging an attack to the middle, where Nunez reversed her set to Hughes.

Potts credited the veteran leadership for prepping the freshmen and first-year Lopes for a unique setting they have been discussion since the start of the spring semester.

"It took forever to get here," Potts said. "We were champing at the bit to get here. Although everybody is on your side, there's just a lot of adrenalin. Sometimes, that adrenalin can go one way or another. I'm just super proud of how our girls leaned on one another. From 1 to 20, everybody had something to do with this."

GCU was tested in the second set despite its .478 hitting. Long Island took the lead midway through the second set and did not trail again until the final two points.

The Lopes' sixth service error of the set gave the Sharks two set points at 24-22, but sophomore setter Taylor Kubacak eliminated the first with an assist to Nunez. After a Sharks error made it 24-24, Ramirez picked up one of her two solo blocks to set up graduate middle blocker Hayden Goodman's ace closing out the second-set win.

"The Havocs were our seventh man, let's be honest," Potts said. "We won that second set because we had a seventh man in the gym. That's not lost on us. Gratitude is the first thing we lead with.

"I'm proud that we were able to have those moments this early in the season, so can fall back to this and say we've been there before."

With the balance of Nunez's 16 assists and Kubacak's 15 assists for the match, GCU kept rolling in the third set once a Goodman block capped five unanswered points for a 10-3 lead.

The Lopes finished the season-opening sweep in style with a run of a Parlanti kill, Kubacak ace and another strong Kubacak serve set up Goodman's match-point, Havocs-thrilling block.

"I don't think I breathed all match, to be honest," Parlanti said. "I'm just now breathing."

The victory also marked the first GCU Athletics event broadcast statewide on Arizona's Family Sports (Ch. 44) as part of a new agreement to air men's and women's home basketball games, as well as select soccer, volleyball, baseball and softball games.

The environment delivered with a scene that set off the Lopes' volleyball scene, which continues at 6 p.m. Saturday against UT Rio Grande Valley and 2 p.m. Sunday against Gonzaga.

"It was like nothing I've ever been in," Nunez said. "It was such a blessing."

The Lopes practiced eye communication in a music-blaring gym during recent training to simulate how raucous Lope-A-Palooza can be wtih a student-dominated, overflow crowd standing all match. Since the volleyball home opener became part of Lope-A-Palooza in 2021, GCU has won each home opener in a sweep.

"I'm grateful for the leadership at GCU to be so forward-thinking," Potts said. "I'm grateful for the effort they put in to create an environment like they do. Our girls understand how much work goes into it."