PHOENIX – The Western Carolina volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to Grand Canyon on Friday night as part of GCU Invitational action at the GCU Arena. Grand Canyon took the match by scores of 25-17, 25-19, and 25-21.

Grand Canyon improves to 4-0 while Western Carolina drops to 0-3.

Bailey Hartsough and Livi Weidmann led the Catamounts with seven kills each. For Weidmann, the seven kills represent a new career-best. Destinee Dorsey tallied 16 digs with Ollie Henderson adding a career-best 10. Weidmann, Julia Gardon, and Johnna Robinson were each credited with two blocks.

McKenzie Wise paced Grand Canyon with 14 kills followed by Sydney Reed with 10. Teagan Defalco had a match-best 17 digs while Klaire Mitchell dished out 29 assists.

WCU took a 9-6 lead early in the first set and extended it to 14-10 following an error by the Lopes. Grand Canyon answered with an 8-1 run for an 18-15 lead. A Hartsough kill cut the Catamount deficit to two, 18-16, but WCU would get no closer down the stretch.

A Wise kill gave the hosts a 9-6 lead in the second set before three straight WCU kills evened the frame at 10. The Lopes gained control of the set with five of the next six points and took the second set for a 2-0 lead in the match.

A kill by MaKenzie White sparked a 6-0 run that gave the Catamounts a 13-9 lead in the third set. With the set tied at 14, the Lopes claimed the next three points and held off a late WCU charge to close out the match.

The Catamounts conclude the GCU Invitational on Saturday with a pair of neutral-site matches, facing Rider at 1 p.m. ET and Villanova at 7:30 p.m. ET. Live stats will be available for both matches via links on catamountsports.com.

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