Grand Canyon 3, Weber State 2 (25-22, 24-26, 25-20, 16-25, 18-16)Recap | Stats
PHOENIX – (GCU Media Relations) Rallying from a 9-5 fifth-set deficit, Grand Canyon (16-9) picked up its fourth-straight win with a 3-2 victory (25-20, 24-26, 25-20, 16-25, 18-16) over Weber State (6-21) at GCU Arena Monday.
Weber State led 9-5 in the fifth before the Lopes scored seven straight points. There were seven ties and three lead changes in the fifth before back-to-back kills from Megan Byrnes and Shannon Dugan gave the Lopes an 18-16 fifth-set victory.
"If you had seen us play the last three weeks, you know we weren't at the top of our game tonight," said GCU coach Kris Naber. "That's not how we want to perform on a nightly basis, but we continued to fight. What we were able to do in the middle of the fifth set speaks volumes of what this group is capable of doing. We played with great composure at the end."
During the 7-0 fifth-set run, freshman Natalie Tardy, named the WAC Player of the Week on Monday, had three consecutive kills to give GCU a 12-9 advantage. Tardy finished the match with 25 kills and 14 digs along with two service aces and a solo Byrnes had 13 kills and hit .407 (13-2-27). Dugan had 11 kills and 16 digs. Setter Michelle Steagall had 46 assists and 14 digs. Mackenzie Phelps had a team-best 20 digs.
"Our block struggled tonight, but at 8-4 in the fourth it got better and made it easier for our defense and they made some great effort plays in fifth set," said Naber. "It was all effort."
Grand Canyon (16-9, 5-6) returns to WAC play Saturday with a 1 p.m. match against Bakersfield (11-13, 7-4) at Antelope Gymnasium.