Lopes come off bye with sweep

Thursday, March 8

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

13-6, 2-4

Menlo College

3-13

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Menlo	18	15	18	0
Grand Canyon	25	25	25	3

3/8/2018 8:35:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU defeated Menlo College in straight sets after taking a week off

By: Alex Nash

PHOENIX – No. 13 Grand Canyon men's volleyball program recorded earned a win coming off their bye week, defeating Menlo College on Thursday night in straight sets. Set scores were 25-18, 25-15 and 25-18. The win moves GCU to 13-6 on the year while Menlo falls to 3-13.

"It's always nice to get a win coming off a bye week." Said head coach Matt Werle. "Sometimes when you have a week off it is difficult to get back into the swing of things but our guys did a good job of finding their rhythm. Menlo is a young team that gave a lot of different looks. They extended rallies forcing us to find different ways of attacking."

The Lopes led Menlo in every statistical category except digs in which they tied at 23. GCU recorded 33 kills, 17 blocks, 30 assists and had a season high 10 aces. A deep rotation not only provided playing time for some younger Lopes but helped give varying looks on the way to holding Menlo to a .035 hitting percentage. GCU used 16 players in the match.

"I'm glad we got to give a number of guys some more on court experience, especially at home." Added Werle. "They were able to keep their composure and perform which can be difficult with our environment."

GCU was led by Ashton King, Cullen Mosher and Shalev Saada who each had five kills with Saada hitting at a perfect 1.000 mark. Three different setters saw action against the Oaks; Puna Kaniho led with 11 assists, Zachary Melcher recorded 10 and freshman Onur Cukur added five. Aces were the story line on the night as five Lopes recorded at least one led by Mosher and Alex Shmelev with three each. For the second match in a row, GCU recorded 15+ blocks totaling 17 thanks to 12 different Lopes. Will Schwob led with seven while Caleb Blazer and Jerod Alleman added six and five respectively.

The first set was the closest of the night after the Oaks claimed a 9-10 lead. A big triple block from Blazer, Scwhob and Cody Williams tied the match and gave the Lopes some momentum. After some back and forth play Mosher put his stamp on the night with a kill followed by back-to-back aces forcing a Menlo time out. The Oaks brought the set within two at 18-16 but the Lopes pulled away thanks to a 4-0 run led by two blocks, a King kill and a Blazer ace. The run spurred the Lopes to take the set 25-18.

The Oaks came out swinging the set number two, taking an early lead 1-3. The Lopes responded by recording nine of the next 10 points behind a couple aces and strong kills from Saada and freshman Trevor Weary. With a 10-4 lead in hand GCU used a multiple of scoring runs to widen the margin, including a 5-0 run late before a Menlo service error put GCU ahead 2-0 in the match.

Set number three had new faces on the floor for the home team. David Kisiel started off the match with a kill and teamed up on a block with Alleman. Alleman was part of another rejection soon after with Schwob and Jack Burton made his mark with a kill giving the Lopes a 4-2 lead. Menlo fought back to come within a point but errors gave the Lopes some breathing room. The Oaks continued to commit errors and hit at a negative mark while GCU capitalized, ending the match with a triple block from Alleman, Burton and Schwob.

"This was a good match to get us back on track but we need to focus on Mount Olive now." Werle stated. "It's tough playing three matches in three days and we need to make sure we are ready. There are still things we need to work on but I am proud of the way our guys performed tonight."

Looking ahead

GCU will host Mount Olive (10-6) on Friday and Saturday in Antelope Gym. The Trojans will play four total matches in Phoenix taking on Menlo Friday morning and Ottawa (Ariz.) on Saturday as neutral matches before facing the Lopes. Both GCU matches are set to begin at 6 p.m. (MST).