Lopes get wise to oust Owls in 4

Sunday, September 6

Phoenix, Ariz.

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-3,0-0Mountain West

Temple

4-2,0-0American

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Temple	23	13	25	15	1
Grand Canyon	25	25	20	25	3

Photo by: Presley Burdick

9/6/2026 5:53:00 PM | Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score

Block game, Anderson's career-high 28 digs set up GCU success

By: Paul Coro

Grand Canyon went light on sleep overnight so that it could play like a dream Sunday.

After a Saturday night loss to San Francisco, the Lopes players watched film before going to bed and again when they woke up to the point that Sunday's pregame team film session was review and Sunday's match against Temple was renewal.

The Lopes ended the GCU Invitational with a 3-1 victory against Temple, which had won its previous three matches by sweeps. With a season-high 10 blocks and senior libero Bella Anderson's career-high 28 digs, the Lopes turned defense into offense for the 25-23, 25-13, 20-25, 25-15 triumph in front of 1,201 fans at Global Credit Union Arena.

"If you have a perfect preseason, I'm not sure what growth you're getting to experience," GCU head coach Kendra Potts said. "The application of being able to learn what we didn't necessarily do last night and apply those things and also carry it over against a very good team in Temple. I'm super proud of the growth we just got to experience."

Temple (4-2) had hit .348 and .249 in its previous weekend wins, but the Lopes defense kept the Owls to .119 hitting with -.026 and .026 clips in the second and fourth sets, respectively.

"The beauty of this team is we're all bought in to the same thing, and that really excites me, especially for conference," Anderson said.

Sunday's net work started with sophomore middle blocker Aubrey Bellus, who tallied six block assists and sparked GCU (3-3) with her early offense just as she had in Friday's win.

The Mesa Mountain View High School graduate hit 1.000 in the first set with a team-best four kills to keep GCU tight until back-to-back kills by sophomore Bella Nunez caught the Lopes up at 21-21. A pair of Temple service errors scored GCU's final points of a 25-23 set for a 1-0 match lead.

"My goal was to be mentally tired after the match, just because of the talk, the pre-talk, my eyework, everything," Bellus said. "That definitely came into play and helped me be more disciplined in my role."

Bellus, at 6 feet 2, and junior Aubrey Goodere, at 6-3, continued to dominate the middle in the second set, which GCU blew open with a 6-0 run for a 23-10 lead. That spurt included a Bellus-Goodere block and a pair of Goodere kills, including one off sophomore Macey Hughes' reverse, cross-court bump set. Hughes added a block and a kill to lead up to a set-closing kill by fifth-year opposite Starr Williams.

Despite showing a balanced, clean offense on Friday and Saturday, Temple was limited to six kills in the second set by GCU's net management.
Katie Schulz

"We were able to funnel their offense to Bella, and that created some transition points for us," Potts said. "The defensive side was key. We let San Francisco play clean all night long, and we didn't slow anything down. So our big point was making sure we were getting some positive touches or slowing some things down to give us chances to swing away in transition."

Temple found its offense in the third set to tighten GCU's match lead to 2-1. The Owls won 25-20 despite giving away points for serving out of rotation and a serve clock violation.

A hustle play seemingly restored the Lopes' momentum on the first volley of the fourth set. GCU senior outside hitter Katie Schulz laid out to keep a point alive with a pancake, which led to a Hughes block winning the point.

Williams, the 6-3 transfer from Tennessee, went on a hitting spree with three kills for a 10-5 Lopes lead, keeping control of a final set that GCU never trailed with the help of four service aces, including two by Anderson.
Starr Williams

The Lopes led 16-13, but Williams crushed Temple's rally with three kills and a block over the final five points of a 9-2 closing stretch. GCU looks often to Williams, who handled the load better Sunday for a team-best 17 kills.

"It was good to see that she ended strong," Potts said. "I was super proud of the setters (Nunez, 21 assists, and junior Taylor Kubacak. 15 assists) and the adjustments that they made to create some seams and holes for all of our hitters. It was great application overall, but it was great to see Starr do what she can do."

Bellus set season highs for kills (nine) and blocks (six) as she continues a progression that sped up last season as a freshman, when she earned 16 starts.

"We talk a lot in our gym about being a dog and getting after it and hunting," Bellus said. "I love the mindset and just going for it and not sitting in the yuck.

"My confidence has grown so much. Before, I was sitting back not feeling like I could. Now, I know what I can do. I know my ceiling is growing. Going after it and being a dog."

The Lopes are on the road for the next three weekends before returning to Global Credit Union Arena, when it will play its first home Mountain West matches against Hawai'i on Oct. 2-3.

GCU stays in Arizona next weekend for the Lumberjack Classic in Flagstaff, where the Lopes will play UC Riverside at 3 p.m. Thursday, event host Northern Arizona at 6 p.m. Friday and Omaha at 11 a.m. Saturday. The Lopes will play Ole Miss and Kansas on Sept. 19 and 20, respectively, in Lawrence, Kansas, before starting Mountain West play at Nevada on Sept. 24-25.