ABILENE, Texas — The Wildcats faced their sixth-straight loss on Thursday as they were taken down by the Grand Canyon Lopes, 3-0.
In the three sets, ACU fell 11-25, 23-25 and 15-25.
GCU started the first set on a 4-0 run and quickly followed it with an 8-0 run to take a dominant lead. They held the Wildcats to a -.063 hitting percentage to earn the first series with a 14-point advantage.
The second set was the best for the Wildcats. They finished the set hitting .205, but the Lopes ultimately finished the set hitting .243, giving them a slight edge.
In the third set, the Wildcats finished hitting .057 in the set while GCU hit .303 percent. The Lopes gained the advantage halfway through the set on a 7-2 run and ultimately took the match.
Grand Canyon held the advantage in nearly every statistical category over the Wildcats.
ACU finished hitting .075 while GCU finished hitting .303 and trailed in kills 33 to 39. GCU had 11 blocks to ACU's one and five aces to ACU's single one of the match from setter Rachel Koss. The Lopes held a slight edge over the Wildcats in assists too, 38 to 31. ACU ultimately had more digs than GCU, holding a 46 to 42 advantage.
Sophomore Hannah Gonzalez led the 'Cats with 10 kills, with Bryley Steinhilber following her with eight and Annaleise Sevier following her with seven. Redshirt junior Nieko Thomas had the Wildcats' lone block of the evening.
Madeline Guffy led the offense with 24 assists and Bryley Steinhilber led ACU with 18 digs.
Up next, the Wildcats hit the road to start the month of November. ACU with drive two-and-a-half hours east on I-20 to take on the UT Arlington Mavericks, the top team in the WAC. The game starts at 6 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
If you can't catch the match in person or on ESPN+, or you can also receive updates by following the team on social media on Instagram, X, Facebook and acusports.com.
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