GCU Finishes Weekend Sweep of Quincy

Saturday, March 8

Antelope Gymnasium

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-11, 2-6

Quincy

7-11, 0-8

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
Quincy	18	30	20	17	1
Grand Canyon	25	28	25	25	3

Ben Ponnet had a school-record 31 kills against Quincy Saturday.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

3/8/2014 9:04:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Ponnet Dominant With 31 Kills

Grand Canyon finished up a weekend Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association sweep of Quincy with a 3-1 victory at Antelope Gymnasium Saturday.

Senior outside hitter Ben Ponnet set a school record with 31 kills in a 25-18, 28-30, 25-20, 25-17 triumph. Ponnet had held the previous mark, 29, set in a five-set loss to Lindenwood earlier this season.

Grand Canyon improved to 8-11 overall and 2-6 in the MIVA. Quincy dropped to 7-11 and 0-8.

"When you can string together two conference wins, it's always a good thing," said GCU coach Jeremy Price. "I really liked how we bounced back after losing the second set."

GCU combined to hit .435 in the last two sets and hit .348 for the match. Ponnet had .491, getting his 31 kills on 53 swings with only five errors. He had a double-double with 10 digs. Gerrard Lipscombe had 14 kills and 10 digs. Setter Keith Smith had 59 assists, eight digs and was part of a team-high five blocks. Tanner Maxwell and Connor Dougherty each had 10 kills. Maxwell added nine digs and two service aces. Dougherty hit .818 with one error on 11 attempts. Libero Jared Morrison had 13 digs.

"Ben Ponnet's numbers jump out at you, to get 31 kills in four sets and hit close to .500, that's beyond impressive," added Price. "I'm still happy to get three others in double-figure kills."

Ponnet had 10 kills and hit .625 (10-0-16) in the third set. Ponnet and Lipscombe each had five kills and Dougherty added four in the fourth set that saw the Antelopes hit a match-best .483.

GCU had 21 more kills (69-48), hit for a better percentage (.348-.235), had more aces and less serving errors (6-10/4-11) and out-dug the Hawks by 15 (53-38).

"We really worked hard on defense," said Price on his team's significant advantage in digs. "That needs to continue."

GCU will play host to Limestone and UC Merced in non-conference matches Thursday and Friday. The Antelopes play UC Merced at noon each day and Limestone at 7 p.m. both nights. UC Merced and Limestone will play each other in the afternoon both days.

GCU 3, QU 1