Lopes drop road match in UNLV sweep

Thursday, October 8

Las Vegas, Nev.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-9,1-4Mountain West

UNLV

6-10,2-3Mountain West

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Grand Canyon	20	18	23	0
UNLV	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Nathan Peters

10/8/2026 8:00:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score

Rebels to visit Phoenix for Round 2 at 4 p.m. Saturday

By: Nathan Peters

LAS VEGAS – Grand Canyon volleyball battled into the closing stages of all three sets Thursday night but could not finish them off, falling 25-20, 25-18, 25-23 to UNLV at The Pavilion. The Lopes dropped to 7-9 overall and 1-4 in Mountain West play.

GCU hit .194 for the match with 42 kills and 22 attack errors on 103 swings, while UNLV hit .260. The Lopes held a 42-38 advantage in kills, but the Rebels committed nine fewer attack errors and held a 7-2 edge in service aces.

Sophomore setter Bella Nunez paced GCU with 10 kills on .350 hitting while adding 10 digs and eight assists. Senior outside hitter Katie Schulz also finished with 10 kills, while sophomore middle blocker Aubrey Bellus delivered eight kills with only two errors on 11 attacks for a team-best .545 hitting percentage.

UNLV (6-10, 2-3 MW) opened the first set with a 5-1 advantage before GCU worked its way back. The Lopes pulled even at 5-5 and eventually moved ahead 10-8 behind an ace from Bellus and contributions from sophomore opposite Macey Hughes and Nunez.

The Rebels responded with seven of the next eight points to move ahead 15-11. GCU cut the deficit to one at 15-14, but UNLV again created separation and closed the opening set 25-20.

GCU started faster in the second set and held a 3-1 lead before UNLV answered. The Lopes continued to battle back throughout the set, erasing a three-point deficit and using a four-point run to turn a 16-14 deficit into an 18-16 advantage.

Bellus delivered two kills during the run, while Nunez added another as GCU appeared positioned to even the match.

UNLV flipped the set immediately. The Rebels scored the final nine points, using two service aces and several GCU attack errors during the run to turn an 18-16 deficit into a 25-18 victory and a 2-0 match lead.

The Lopes again put themselves in position to extend the match in the third.

After falling behind 3-0, GCU responded with a 9-1 stretch to take a 9-4 lead. Freshman outside hitter Gentry Oblad, Schulz and Nunez supplied kills during the turnaround, and the Lopes remained in front through much of the set.

GCU later built a 22-18 advantage and still led 23-20 after another Nunez kill.

UNLV answered with the final five points. The Rebels pulled within one at 23-22, tied the set with an ace and followed with consecutive kills to complete the 25-23 win and the sweep.

Junior setter Taylor Kubacak led GCU with 22 assists and added five digs. Senior libero Bella Anderson recorded eight digs and five assists, while Oblad added seven digs and an ace.

Freshman middle blocker Kaela Jenkins added two kills, while sophomore opposite hitter Ana Jaramazovic also recorded two.

The Lopes will face UNLV at 4 p.m. Saturday in Phoenix for the second match of the series.