Ramirez, Kubacak record double-doubles for 3-0 Lopes
By: Paul Coro
Grand Canyon volleyball came at this season swiftly and surprisingly with a sense of the unexpected proving to be a good thing.
Opponents are not able to key on the moving parts of the Lopes' attack, which completed the GCU Invitational with three sweep victories for the first time since 2021 after grinding Gonzaga for a 25-21, 25-16, 26-24 win Sunday at Global Credit Union Arena.
Five new full-time starters and a new-found balance in a 6-2 rotation buckled Lopes opponents.
After three wins in three days, GCU has six players who ended the weekend as team leaders in points (freshman setter/opposite Bella Nunez, 32), hitting percentage (sophomore middle blocker Aubrey Goodere, .418), kills (graduate outside hitter Sophia Parlanti, 27), blocks (graduate middle blocker Hayden Goodman, 21), digs (junior outside hitter Anaelena Ramirez, 35) and assists (sophomore setter Taylor Kubacak, 53).
"You get to define who you are every single time you get out there," Lopes head coach Kendra Potts said. "And what's cool is that we can just say, 'Thiis is who we are. This is just simply what we do.' Are we playing out of our minds, or are we just being who we are? I think we're just being who we are. And so I'm very grateful. It's just a really fun group to coach."
It is fun for GCU when it rarely trails a match like it did Sunday.
Gonzaga led briefly in the middle of the first set, not at all in the second set and not after 11-10 of the third set. After winning Friday and Saturday, the Zags were held to .118 hitting by the Lopes with top outside hitter Sjakkie Donkers out injured.
GCU coaches felt like the team did not capitalize on its strength in the middle enough in Saturday's win, and the Lopes responded to the correction Sunday.
"The setter can get the ball to anyone, and I trust they're going put it away," Goodman said.
Goodere hit .500 on Sunday and .484 for the weekend, which she finished by matching her three-set career high for kills with eight against Gonzaga. The rest of the Good-Good middle featured Goodman tallying seven kills and seven blocks.
"We have some very capable middles that we need to keep a part of the offense, and I think that just keeps the middles more motivated," Potts said. "I think that's where the blocking comes from, where the touches come from and a lot of the energy on their defensive side. So I'm so happy that our setters were really trying to find ways to connect with the middles today."
GCU finished a 25-21 first set with Parlanti's deep kill off a Nunez bump set, but the lead had been built with a 6-0 opening and Goodere's late-set run of a block and two kills. Hayden Goodman
At the outset of the second set, Goodman livened up the block party by getting a solo or assist on four consecutive GCU blocks for a 9-3 lead that prompted a Gonzaga timeout. The Lopes hit .333 in the set to cruise to a 25-16 win and 2-0 match edge.
"That was something we were really trying to dial in," Goodman said of increased offense for the middles. "I think my setters were just giving me a ton of confidence."
Gonzaga pushed back with 4-0 and 11-9 leads in the third set, but its errors opened a door that GCU crashed.
The Lopes took its first third-set lead when Nunez set freshman opposite Macey Hughes for a 14-13 edge. On Kubacak's serve, the Lopes turned that into a 6-0 run with a pair of Parlanti kills and Goodman's block and kill.
Gonzaga rallied to a 24-24 tie, but the Lopes finished the sweep when Ramirez's 13th dig allowed Kubacak's 21st assist set up Nunez's right-pin kill. Anaelena Ramirez
"The coaching staff did a really good job of making a single point just a single point and not making it bigger than what it is," Ramirez said of the team's crunch-time success over the weekend. "That third set was a great example. It got 24-24. That would be a perfect opportunity for us to be really tight, but none of us were. We were just being more aggressive to finish the play."
With Ramirez switching her position this season, she is expanding her game and set a career high with 19 digs Saturday before having her second career double-digit dig match Sunday with 13 digs. She also tallied a team-high 12 kills against Gonzaga.
"Ironically, I think Ana gets better the more she gets to touch the ball, and she's carrying this load very well," Potts said. "It's not an easy transition going from opposite to outside, playing six rotations, being a part of every play. I'm just so proud of her." Bella Nunez
The weekend marked an introduction to a rising star in Nunez. After arriving at GCU from El Paso, Texas, in June for informal workouts and weight training, Nunez progressed from her first practices with coaches on July 31 to a starring role this weekend.
In nine sets, Nunez flipped roles from back row to front row in the 6-2 to accumulate 43 assists, 26 digs, 24 kills, 12 blocks and two aces.
"This is her first college weekend, and she's playing out of her mind," Potts said. "We absolutely knew this girl was going to do some things. As quick as she has, though, I probably couldn't have predicted that."
The Lopes formed cohesion in the offseason despite 15 new players, and it translated to a weekend that was fueled by support. Following up the opening night Lope-A-Palooza crowd of 7,114, GCU drew 1,154 fans on Saturday and 2,004 on Sunday.
"Every one of the girls on this team is very open and very willing to learn from one another," Ramirez said. "We're very big on coming to each other if there's something that we need to work out. Everybody knows we're coming from a positive place."
The Lopes host another tournament next weekend with matches against East Texas A&M on Friday, Washington State on Saturday and Northern Arizona on Sunday at Global Credit Union Arena.
GCU Invitational All-Tournament Team
Bella Nunez, Grand Canyon Hayden Goodman, Grand Canyon Anaelena Ramirez, Grand Canyon
Sjakkie Donkers, Gonzaga
Kelly McAuley, Gonzaga
Martina Franco, UT Rio Grande Valley
Sara Van Gisteren, Long Island
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