(Phoenix, Ariz. – Oct. 26, 2023) - On the road for the first time in nearly three weeks, the Utah Tech volleyball team fell in straight sets to Grand Canyon on Thursday night at GCU Arena.

Utah Tech (8-13, 4-7 WAC) dropped sets, 21-25, 19-25, 14-25 to Grand Canyon (17-5, 10-1 WAC). Freshman outside hitter Adee Butler led the Trailblazers with a season-high 12 kills and hit .391 while adding four digs.

Senior Emma Ricks added a team-leading 11 digs, her 13th match leading the Blazers in digs, while freshman Marley Roe had a team-best 14 assists.

The closest set of the contest came in the opening set with the Trailblazers staying close through the early going trailing 8-7 after a block by Elise Porter. A 6-1 run for the Lopes put the home team ahead 14-8 and after back-to-back kills by Sydney Reese and Taylor Snow, five straight points for GCU extended its lead to 19-10. With GCU continuing to lead 22-14, a 7-1 run for UT cut the Blazers' deficit to three, but one final kill by the Lopes ended any hopes of a rally for the visitors.

Utah Tech stayed close throughout the early portion of the second set cutting the Lopes' lead to two at 11-9 after a kill by Hannah Howard. A 5-2 run for GCU pushed the Lopes in front, 16-11 as the Blazers were able to get the final three points of the set, all off kills by Butler, GCU claimed the set, 25-19.

The final set saw the Blazers cut the Lopes' lead to 8-5 after a kill by Butler, but a 10-2 run for GCU put the Lopes ahead 18-7 with Grand Canyon going on to win by the set by that margin and complete the sweep.

Utah Tech wraps up the weekend on Saturday afternoon at California Baptist (13-9, 6-5 WAC) at 2 p.m. MT.