Grand Canyon getting rough Division I welcome
By this time last fall, Grand Canyon University volleyball was well on its way to the second-best season by winning percentage in school history.
The Antelopes equaled their best NCAA Division II postseason run by reaching the West Region semifinals in Hawaii before falling 15-12 in the fifth set to Cal State-San Bernardino to finish 24-6. But that was then. Now, for all GCU sports, the move to Division I is coming with expected consequences. Volleyball is faring the best of four fall Olympic sports with a 7-11 record. Women’s soccer is 4-11-1 (off from 9-7-2 in 2012) and men’s soccer is 2-8-1 (down from 16-3-1). The cross-country teams were fourth behind the other three in-state schools at the early-season Dave Murray Invitational in Tucson.
None of this is unexpected, particularly with road-heavy schedules on top of upgraded opposition, but it’s still difficult to endure.
“It does have a tendency to be disheartening to kids who have had success,” GCU Athletic Director Keith Baker said. “We try to be sensitive and encouraging to them, helping them to continue on their path and not get beaten down by the process.”
Baker is a GCU graduate who’s worked at the school in various capacities, including golf and volleyball coach, since 1983. He pitched on three Antelopes baseball teams that won NAIA national titles.
“I remember what happened when our baseball team first joined NCAA in 1990” as GCU’s then only Division I program, Baker said. “We found out that there is no day off and it’s a grind. That’s helped me in dealing with coaches now and their mental approach to getting better week to week and positioning their programs for recruiting. Patience is one of the things we’re trying to emphasize.”
Recruiting is hamstrung to some degree by a four-year wait until GCU is fully accredited in Division I and eligible for postseason participation in 2017-18.
“We have to highlight what the university is all about, our degree programs and the growth process of helping to put us on the map,” Baker said. “We’re working hard at selling that end.
“We’ve tried to hammer home to the coaches that there are things in the athletic environment that extend beyond wins and losses. It’s an overall representation of what the school is like and making sure that when (other) coaches talk and committees look at things, they say this is a good place to be and that we do things in the right way.”
The GCU swimming teams made their D-I debuts Saturday with the basketball teams tipping off next month.
UA volleyball tops No. 1 USC
Arizona volleyball, which opened conference play 2-3, swept UCLA on Friday and No. 1 USC on Sunday, improving to 15-5 (5-3 Pac-12).
Junior outside hitter Madi Kingdon of Phoenix had 20 kills and hit .340 to lead the Wildcats’ 27-25, 25-21, 25-21 upset. Taylor Arizobal and Halli Amaro combined for 14 kills and just one error, and Jane Croson added nine kills. UA’s setter is Penina Snuka of Gilbert.
ASU volleyball struggling
Arizona State’s once-promising volleyball season is falling apart.
The No. 22 Sun Devils were swept by No. 1 USC on Friday and again by unranked UCLA on Sunday and will fall out of the national rankings today. They have lost six of their past seven matches and at 13-7 (2-6 Pac-12) are in danger of not making the NCAA Tournament.
ASU has 12 matches remaining, but the next four are on the road starting Thursday against Utah. Coach Jason Watson plans to move freshman BreElle Bailey to the left side in an attempt to jump-start an offense that is showing its youth and increasingly feeling the loss of outside hitter Erica Wilson.
“I didn’t think we were at all ready to compete, and this is the result,” Watson said after a 25-23, 25-20, 25-21 loss to UCLA. “These are reoccurring lessons that make it tough on all of us.”
Nora Tuioti-Mariner replaced freshman Kizzy Willey on the left side early against UCLA and finished with a team-high nine kills. If Bailey joins Macey Gardner on the left side then either Tuioti-Mariner or Willey will play on the right.