Antelopes Rally For Program's First Two-Set Comeback

Friday, January 10

Stockton, CA

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-0

Pacific

1-1

Grand Canyon

Pacific

Sophomore Gerrard Lipscombe came off the bench to get 16 kills and hit .382.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

1/10/2014 11:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU Takes On No. 4 Stanford Saturday

With a solo block from senior Connor Dougherty, Grand Canyon finished off the program's first-ever two-set deficit comeback victory in a 3-2 triumph over Pacific at Alex Spanos Center in Stockton, Calif., Friday.

Trailing 2-0, the Antelopes, got a spark from the bench, which included middle blockers Dougherty and Aquiles Montoya and outside hitter Gerrard Lipscombe to win by set scores of 16-25, 23-25, 25-19, 25-22, 15-12.

Lipscombe finished with 16 kills and hit .382. He had 15 kills in the final three sets. Dougherty had a team-high four blocks along with six kills. Montoya was an efficient three kills on four tries and was part of three blocks.

All-MIVA outside hitter Ben Ponnet became more effective down the stretch and finished with a match-best 23 kills. He also had 15 in the final three sets. Senior setter Keith Smith was one shy of his career high for assists, finishing with 57.

"We made three subs in the middle of the second set when we were down 14-8," said coach Jeremy Price. "We came up short in that set, but from that point on we were able to take control. (The three subs) really brought a lot of energy."

Lipscombe had five kills in the fifth set and six in the third. Ponnet led the fourth set with seven kills.

"Ben did a good job fighting through a rough start and carried us in the fourth set," said Price.

Right side hitter Robbie Brannick finished with 11 kills. He was a bright spot early in the match with five first-set kills without an error.

"He was consistent throughout the match," said Price of Brannick. "And, Keith (Smith) did a good job of running the offense."

Junior libero Jared Morrison had a match-best 11 digs.

It was GCU's first win in its season-opener since downing UC Santa Cruz in 2011. The Antelopes are 2-4 all-time in season openers.

"It was good to play a five-setter in our first match," said Price. "It was good to show resiliency and we also showed that we have a lot to work on. Our blocking needs to get better, but it improved as the match went on."

The Antelopes return to action at No. 4 Stanford Saturday. The contest starts at 8 p.m. Arizona Time. A link for live stats (no live video) will be available at www.gculopes.com.

GCU 3, UOP 2