Williams leads opening-day attack in College Station

Friday, August 28

College Station, Texas

9 a.m. (MST)

Grand Canyon

0-1,0-0Mountain West

Texas A&M

1-2,0-0SEC

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Grand Canyon	15	17	25	13	1
Texas A&M	25	25	15	25	3

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Grand Canyon	22	21	22	0
Cal Poly	25	25	25	3

Photo by: Nathan Peters

8/28/2026 6:13:00 PM | Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Lopes fall to host Texas A&M, Cal Poly in Friday matches

By: Nathan Peters

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Grand Canyon volleyball opened its 2026 season Friday with a pair of matches at Reed Arena, falling 3-1 to defending national champion and eighth-ranked host Texas A&M before dropping a tightly contested three-set match to 2026 Sweet 16 qualifier Cal Poly.

Fifth-year opposite hitter Starr Williams paced the Lopes offensive, totaling 21 kills while hitting .326 across the two matches. Williams led GCU with 14 kills on .345 hitting against Texas A&M before adding a team-high seven kills at a .294 clip against Cal Poly.

GCU freshman outside hitter Gentry Oblad also made an immediate impact in her collegiate debut, finishing the opener with nine kills and eight digs before moving into the starting lineup for the nightcap.

Lopes head coach Kendra Potts came away encouraged by the Lopes' aggressiveness from the service line and their ability to compete with two experienced opponents.

"As a team, I think overall for the day, I thought we attacked at the service line the way we wanted to," Potts said. "The next step of that is defending a team that's strong out of system, but I was really proud of how purposeful we were at the service line as a collective unit."

Texas A&M 3, GCU 1

The Lopes showed their best volleyball of the opener in a dominant third set, but host Texas A&M bookended the match with strong offensive performances to earn a 25-15, 25-17, 15-25, 25-13 victory.

GCU struggled to establish its offense in the first set, totaling six kills against nine attack errors for a negative hitting percentage. The Lopes improved to .237 in the second set before finding another level coming out of the break.

GCU hit .467 in the third set with 17 kills and only three errors on 30 attacks, turning the tables on the Aggies for a 25-15 win.

After the teams traded the first several points, GCU began creating separation. Oblad delivered kills for 8-5, 9-7 and 10-7 leads, while Williams helped the Lopes stretch the advantage with three consecutive kills during a run that made it 17-11.

The Lopes never allowed Texas A&M back into the set. Oblad scored twice more late, putting down kills for GCU's 23rd and 24th points, before sophomore setter Bella Nunez ended the set with a kill for the 25-15 victory.

Williams' 14 kills came on only 29 swings with four errors, while Oblad followed with nine kills and eight digs.

"A big glimmer, as far as individual play, I thought Gentry did a good job stepping in against A&M and just showing some things and what she's capable of doing," Potts said. "Especially being a little bit undersized, she can play that way.

"Starr definitely showed what she's capable of in the first match against A&M as well."

Sophomore middle blocker Aubrey Bellus and Nunez each added five or more kills and combined for eight block assists. Nunez had a team-high 16 assists, with junior setter Taylor Kubacak adding 15.

Texas A&M answered GCU's third-set surge immediately, controlling the fourth set to close the match. The Aggies finished the afternoon hitting .270 compared to GCU's .153 and held an 11.5-6 advantage in team blocks. GCU recorded 49 digs but was limited by nine service errors against two aces.

Cal Poly 3, GCU 0

Friday night's score did not reflect how little separated GCU and Cal Poly for much of the match.

The Lopes fell 25-22, 25-21, 25-22, with all three sets remaining within reach late. GCU improved its attack percentage from .120 in the opening set to .333 in the third and finished with seven team blocks compared to three for Cal Poly.

Williams again led the Lopes with seven kills, while Bellus produced one of GCU's most efficient attacking performances of the day. The Mesa, Arizona, native recorded six kills with only one error on 14 attacks for a .357 hitting percentage, adding a solo block and three block assists.

GCU appeared positioned to even the match in the second set.

The Lopes built a 9-6 advantage and remained in front for most of the set. Williams made it 13-10 with a kill, Ana Jaramazovic pushed GCU ahead 17-14 and a Cal Poly attack error extended the lead to 18-14.

The Mustangs responded with the decisive run of the match. Cal Poly scored seven consecutive points to turn GCU's four-point advantage into a 21-18 deficit. Bellus stopped the run with a kill and teamed with Nunez for a block to pull GCU within 21-20, but Cal Poly scored four of the final five points for the 25-21 set.

GCU again had opportunities to extend the match in the third.

After falling behind 3-0, the Lopes battled back and used a Kubacak ace and Nunez kill to take a 10-8 advantage. Neither side led by more than two points for the remainder of a set that featured 11 ties.

Bellus put GCU ahead 19-18, and a Cal Poly service error gave the Lopes another lead at 20-19. Junior middle blocker Aubrey Goodere later tied the set at 21-21 with a kill from Nunez, but Cal Poly answered with three straight points. The Lopes fought off the first match point before the Mustangs finished the 25-22 win.

For Potts, the takeaway was less about whether the Lopes could play with the caliber of competition they faced and more about learning how to finish when sets reached their deciding points.

"We knew what we were coming into this weekend," Potts said. "We knew A&M and what they're doing, as well as Cal Poly returning most of their roster from last year's Sweet 16 team. We knew that we were coming against some great competition, but also not forgetting that we are capable and able to finish matches."

Potts pointed specifically to GCU's late-set execution against the Mustangs as an area for growth.

"We could have managed the red zone better," Potts said. "Being able to play Cal Poly as tight as we did, I wish that we could have stayed strong in our sprint at the end. But again, it's early."

Cal Poly finished with 52 kills and hit .274 while GCU recorded 25 kills on .179 hitting. The Lopes created pressure at the net with seven blocks but surrendered eight service aces.

GCU finishes its College Station weekend Saturday by taking on Arkansas State, which reached last season's NCAA Tournament second round, at 2 p.m. (Phoenix time)