Grand Canyon University Athletics
Grand Canyon captures first men's volleyball victory
1/10/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
SANTA CRUZ, Calif. -- One history-making moment complete, many others are hopeful for the future.
Grand Canyon (1-2) picked up the school's first-ever men's volleyball victory with a 3-1 triumph over Holy Names at UC Santa Cruz's West Fieldhouse Saturday.
The Antelopes won by set scores of 30-25, 30-19, 24-30, 30-24.
Earlier in the day, GCU fell to UC Santa Cruz 3-0 by set scores of 30-28, 30-22, 39-28.
"Getting that first win is always tough," said GCU coach Chad Speer. "Getting that first win in the program's history puts a double amount of pressure on you. It's nice to get that first win."
Tyson Crandell had 13 kills, a .333 attack percentage, and three service aces in the win.
Taylor Griffin and Kyle Norton (pictured), who played for Speer at Boulder Creek High School, each had 12 kills.
Setter Chris Bradshaw had 49 assists, three service aces and 10 digs.
Another former Speer BC player, Brennan Zotovich (pictured on main page), had one of the most productive weekends in the inaugural three-match trip. He had five service aces and four total blocks in the win and led the team with 10 kills and a .400 percentage in the narrow loss to the Slugs.
For the weekend, he led the team in attack percentage at .269 and in total blocks with 11.
"Overall, for the entire weekend, Brennan Zotovich was our best player on the court," added Speer. "He was good on both sides of the net."
Bradshaw had 23 assists and Griffin had six digs and three total blocks in the Saturday loss to UC Santa Cruz.
GCU heads to Mt. Olive, NC next weekend to take on King College, Lees-McRae and Mt. Olive.
"(In Friday's loss to UC Santa Cruz) we played well the first game and we had the game but our serve reception fell apart then we fell apart the next two games," said Speer. "(On Saturday) we kept our composure and played two solid matches.
"Most of the time, we had five freshmen and one sophomore on the floor."
