Lopes sweep road trip in Midwest

Saturday, February 3

Lebanon, Ill.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

10-2

McKendree

3-5

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Grand Canyon	17	25	25	25	3
McKendree	25	17	19	17	1

2/3/2018 7:44:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU drops first set before taking the next three in four-set win

By: Fletcher Like

LEBANON, Ill. – After battling back to take a five-set victory at Lindenwood Friday night, the Lopes had to battle again against McKendree going on to win 3-1 (17-25, 25-17, 25-19, 25-17). The No. 10 Lopes move to 10-2 on the season as McKendree falls to 3-5.

Senior outside Cullen Mosher led all players with 15 kills and eight digs, while Luke Turner added 14 kills off the bench on a .481 attacking percentage. Mosher once again wreaked havoc at the service line, he ended with one ace, but on multiple occasions had his service pressure rewarded by a freeball for the Lopes in which they were able to score. Opposite Will Schwob ended with six kills and 10 digs, and libero Sky Engleman finished with 12 digs.

"I was really pleased with our offense through the final three sets," head coach Matt Werle said after the match. "We started attacking high hands aggressively and it paid off. We won the serve and pass game and that allowed us to be successful on defense. Our defensive effort tonight was also much better than last night and we out-defended them by multiple digit digs." GCU out-dug the Bearcats 40 to 27.

Even with a better flow to the match, the Lopes couldn't get in an offensive groove in the first set, tallying just 12 kills before ultimately dropping the set. The home team knocked down 15 kills on a .406 attacking percentage. The set was close until the Bearcats took control at the 10-9 point when Mosher smashed an overpass to the floor but the Bearcats controlled the rest of the set on their way to a 25-17 set victory.

In the second set, the Lopes took a two-point lead early and slowly added to the it. Jerod Alleman saw action in the second set and made an impact putting down the final kill of the set after Mosher's serve got the Bearcats disoriented, forcing a free ball that Alleman put away to take the set.

The match was a back-and-forth affair, just like the night before, as well as the past three matchups between the Lopes and Bearcats, until the third set when GCU took control two sets to one.

In the third set, the Lopes trailed 7-5 before back-to-back errors from the Bearcats, one via a block by the Lopes. Down, 8-7, the Lopes collected two straight points on a Mosher kill and a McKendree error. The set swayed back-and-forth until the Lopes took a four-point lead, 14-10. The Lopes lead stayed at four points until a McKendree timeout with the Lopes up 17-12. GCU won the point coming out of the timeout to take an 18-12 lead. The Lopes kept the gas pedal down and took the set 25-19 on a Turner kill.

"The adjustments we made late in the third set carried over to the fourth set and set the tone early. We were able to build on that and be very productive" Werle said of his team's adaptability.

The Lopes didn't slow down in the fourth set and took the lead early which they would not relinquish. Up 8-5, an attacking error from McKendree forced the home side to take a timeout down 9-5. The Lopes pushed the lead to 13-7 before a Bearcats kill. A comeback was not in the cards as the visitors did not allow the home side back into the set, finishing 25-19.

Setter, Zachary Melcher finished with 34 assists as he guided the Lopes to a .367 attacking percentage. The Lopes finished with seven blocks and three aces, and out-dug the home team 40 to 27.

GCU will be back at home Thursday night to begin a four match home stand that will feature three nationally ranked teams. The Thursday night match will start at 6 p.m. in Antelope Gym against Pepperdine with the Saturday match at 6 p.m. in Antelope against No. 2 UCLA.