Completed Event: Volleyball versus Louisiana Monroe on September 4, 2026 , Win , 3, to, 0
Volleyball
vs Louisiana Monroe
W 3-0
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Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
GCU elevates to end NAU's 15-match home win streak
9/11/2026 10:19:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro
Lopes' 1st win vs. Jacks comes by allowing only .053 hitting over final 4 sets
FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. – On the northern end of Northern Arizona's Rolle Activity Center home, "FINISH" is boldly posted on an overhang.
Grand Canyon took heed to that message, delivering the program's first win against Big Sky defending champion NAU by toiling its way to a five-set victory that snapped the Lumberjacks' 15-match home winning streak.
The programs only had met three prior times during GCU's Division I era but the Lopes were 0-20 overall against NAU until they followed through on head coach Kendra Potts' prematch message that winning would take a long, laborious night. Two and a half hours later, GCU had prevailed 20-25, 25-20. 25-14, 20-25, 15-11 by resiliently snatching momentum back twice after set losses.
"We just know the only way you're beating NAU is you're here for a really long time, period," Potts said. "They're not going to let somebody just roll them over. "After that first set, I was like, 'We're going to be here all night long, however long it takes.' And that's what we did."
GCU (5-3) handed NAU (5-4) its first home loss since Nov. 9, 2024, by holding the Lumberjacks to .053 hitting over the final four sets after NAU blistered GCU with .462 first-set hitting. The Lopes countered with a steady offensive night that was highlighted by senior outside hitter Katie Schulz's season-high 18 kills, fifth-year opposite Starr Williams' 12 kills and standout work by middle blockers Aubrey Goodere (nine kills on .529 hitting, seven blocks) and Aubrey Bellus (seven kills, seven blocks).
After dropping the fourth set to even the match at 2-2, GCU won its third consecutive match by taking command of the fifth set with a 10-5 lead that included sophomore opposite Macey Hughes' two kills and one block. NAU made a push when it tightened the Lopes lead to 13-11, but GCU followed a timeout with sophomore opposite/setter Bella Nunez and Goodere teaming for the team's third block of the set and then an NAU error ended the Lumberjack Classic nightcap.
"That was just exhilarating," said Schulz, who topped Thursday's season-high 11 kills with 18 on Friday night. "It was so cool that we just felt like a unit, and we were connected physically, emotionally and mentally. Everyone was just on a high, and we rode the highs. When it was low, we were able to pick it up and turn it around right away."
NAU frustrated the GCU defense with its scoring ability in the first set, when Big Sky Preseason Player of the Year Hanah Stoddard recorded six kills and her team only committed one error.
The second set started with more of the season with the Lumberjacks taking a 7-1 lead before a GCU timeout reset the Lopes. They outscored the Lumberjacks 49-27 to win the second and third sets.
"We let their outside be too clean that first set, started making some stops in the second set and forced them into some things that they didn't want to do," Potts said. "That helped us just recover. But never for a second were we going to let ourselves thing that we were out of it."
For a second consecutive victorious night, the Lopes turned to junior Natalie Guerrero at libero for a six-rotation spark, which came in the form of 17 digs and five assists in four sets of action.
Trailing 7-1 in the second set, GCU came out of a timeout with 10 unanswered points, four of which came on Schulz kills off the left pin. The Green Bay transfer delivered seven kills in that second set, which Williams and Bellus finished with a double block.
"That was because of the setters and the defense," Schulz said of her more aggressive hitting. "They're all ready to cover me. I just have so much trust in my team, and that allows me to be able to swing away."
Potts said Schulz's passion becomes contagious for the team, which showed when GCU opened the third set with a 6-1 lead on the strength of the blockers' adjustments. That lead stretched to 11-3 when the Lopes scored on blocks on three consecutive points with Bellus, Hughes and Williams involved on them.
The Lopes stretched the lead on a string of Lumberjacks errors and closed a dominant 25-14 set with two more Schulz kills, a defender-toppling Williams kill and a Goodere kill on junior setter Taylor Kubacak's set-clinching assist for a 2-1 match lead.
GC
U's hitting dipped to .135 in the fourth set, when NAU evened the match with a 25-20 set win
"I was like, 'This set is ours,' " Schulz said. "It's not a mentality of, 'Let's try to win.' It's the mentality of, 'We are winning.' It's just so cool that we had the opportunity to do it before conference. They threw punches, but we threw them back too."
GCU used three blocks and three Williams kill in its victorious 15-11 set win that was the Lopes' first fifth set of the season and the Lumberjacks' first five-set loss after winning their previous two five-set matches.
The win featured three GCU double-doubles (Schulz's 18 kills and 14 digs, Williams' 12 kills and 18 digs and Nunez's 25 assists and 18 digs), along with Kubacak moving into second place on GCU's Division I--era career assists list with 1,510.
"If we keep our middles involved, we're going to keep seams and little gaps open for our pins throughout the night," Potts said. "We were willing to give our ball to the middle even when it wasn't the best situation because we have to keep the opponent's side block honest.
"This is a great night of growth. But the bigger picture now is 'Can we put two games like this together and go 3-0?" Omaha (Saturday's 11 a.m. opponent) is a very, very good team in many different ways. We've got to go back to work."
Grand Canyon took heed to that message, delivering the program's first win against Big Sky defending champion NAU by toiling its way to a five-set victory that snapped the Lumberjacks' 15-match home winning streak.
The programs only had met three prior times during GCU's Division I era but the Lopes were 0-20 overall against NAU until they followed through on head coach Kendra Potts' prematch message that winning would take a long, laborious night. Two and a half hours later, GCU had prevailed 20-25, 25-20. 25-14, 20-25, 15-11 by resiliently snatching momentum back twice after set losses.
"We just know the only way you're beating NAU is you're here for a really long time, period," Potts said. "They're not going to let somebody just roll them over. "After that first set, I was like, 'We're going to be here all night long, however long it takes.' And that's what we did."
GCU (5-3) handed NAU (5-4) its first home loss since Nov. 9, 2024, by holding the Lumberjacks to .053 hitting over the final four sets after NAU blistered GCU with .462 first-set hitting. The Lopes countered with a steady offensive night that was highlighted by senior outside hitter Katie Schulz's season-high 18 kills, fifth-year opposite Starr Williams' 12 kills and standout work by middle blockers Aubrey Goodere (nine kills on .529 hitting, seven blocks) and Aubrey Bellus (seven kills, seven blocks).
After dropping the fourth set to even the match at 2-2, GCU won its third consecutive match by taking command of the fifth set with a 10-5 lead that included sophomore opposite Macey Hughes' two kills and one block. NAU made a push when it tightened the Lopes lead to 13-11, but GCU followed a timeout with sophomore opposite/setter Bella Nunez and Goodere teaming for the team's third block of the set and then an NAU error ended the Lumberjack Classic nightcap.
"That was just exhilarating," said Schulz, who topped Thursday's season-high 11 kills with 18 on Friday night. "It was so cool that we just felt like a unit, and we were connected physically, emotionally and mentally. Everyone was just on a high, and we rode the highs. When it was low, we were able to pick it up and turn it around right away."
NAU frustrated the GCU defense with its scoring ability in the first set, when Big Sky Preseason Player of the Year Hanah Stoddard recorded six kills and her team only committed one error.
The second set started with more of the season with the Lumberjacks taking a 7-1 lead before a GCU timeout reset the Lopes. They outscored the Lumberjacks 49-27 to win the second and third sets.
"We let their outside be too clean that first set, started making some stops in the second set and forced them into some things that they didn't want to do," Potts said. "That helped us just recover. But never for a second were we going to let ourselves thing that we were out of it."
For a second consecutive victorious night, the Lopes turned to junior Natalie Guerrero at libero for a six-rotation spark, which came in the form of 17 digs and five assists in four sets of action.
Trailing 7-1 in the second set, GCU came out of a timeout with 10 unanswered points, four of which came on Schulz kills off the left pin. The Green Bay transfer delivered seven kills in that second set, which Williams and Bellus finished with a double block.
"That was because of the setters and the defense," Schulz said of her more aggressive hitting. "They're all ready to cover me. I just have so much trust in my team, and that allows me to be able to swing away."
Potts said Schulz's passion becomes contagious for the team, which showed when GCU opened the third set with a 6-1 lead on the strength of the blockers' adjustments. That lead stretched to 11-3 when the Lopes scored on blocks on three consecutive points with Bellus, Hughes and Williams involved on them.
The Lopes stretched the lead on a string of Lumberjacks errors and closed a dominant 25-14 set with two more Schulz kills, a defender-toppling Williams kill and a Goodere kill on junior setter Taylor Kubacak's set-clinching assist for a 2-1 match lead.
GC
U's hitting dipped to .135 in the fourth set, when NAU evened the match with a 25-20 set win "I was like, 'This set is ours,' " Schulz said. "It's not a mentality of, 'Let's try to win.' It's the mentality of, 'We are winning.' It's just so cool that we had the opportunity to do it before conference. They threw punches, but we threw them back too."
GCU used three blocks and three Williams kill in its victorious 15-11 set win that was the Lopes' first fifth set of the season and the Lumberjacks' first five-set loss after winning their previous two five-set matches.
The win featured three GCU double-doubles (Schulz's 18 kills and 14 digs, Williams' 12 kills and 18 digs and Nunez's 25 assists and 18 digs), along with Kubacak moving into second place on GCU's Division I--era career assists list with 1,510.
"If we keep our middles involved, we're going to keep seams and little gaps open for our pins throughout the night," Potts said. "We were willing to give our ball to the middle even when it wasn't the best situation because we have to keep the opponent's side block honest.
"This is a great night of growth. But the bigger picture now is 'Can we put two games like this together and go 3-0?" Omaha (Saturday's 11 a.m. opponent) is a very, very good team in many different ways. We've got to go back to work."
Players Mentioned
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OH
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