Lopes Upset No. 11 Ohio State

Saturday, February 28

Antelope Gymnasium

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

8-7, 3-5

Ohio State

12-4, 6-2

Ohio State

Grand Canyon

Shalev Saada had 15 kills in Saturday's upset over Ohio State.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/28/2015 8:59:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Down 11-10 in the fifth set, Grand Canyon (8-7, 3-5) scored five of the final six points to wrap up a 3-2 upset of No. 11 Ohio State (12-4, 6-2) at Antelope Gymnasium Saturday.

It was the program's first win over a ranked team at home. The Lopes upset the Buckeyes in Columbus during the quarterfinals of the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association tournament in 2013.

Set scores for Saturday's win were 19-25, 25-23, 25-21, 21-25, 15-12.

"The atmosphere was fantastic again tonight," said GCU coach Jeremy Price. "The crowd was really into it. We had 500 people in here, but it felt like the 1,000 we had (Friday) night. The fans really hung with us."

A Gerrard Lipscombe kill tied the fifth set at 11-11 and GCU scored two of its next three points on combo blocks from Ashton King and Ryan Mather. The Buckeyes cut it to 14-12, but the Lopes finished off the match with a Mather kill.

A redshirt-junior from Redondo Beach, Calif., Mather had 15 kills, five service aces and was part of seven blocks. Mather had 11 kills and hit .500 (11-1-20) over the last three sets. Lipscombe had a team-best 16 kills and hit .357 (16-6-28) for the match. He added three service aces and was one of three players to have six digs. Freshman Shalev Saada had 15 kills.

"I really liked our balance," added Price.

After a tough first set, GCU got back in the match with a resilient second. The Lopes had six of their 13 blocks in the set. Setter Michael Milstein had a solo and was part of two others. King was part of three. There were 17 ties and five lead changes. A Lipscombe kill broke a tie at 22-22 and Milstein's solo block got the Lopes one point from tying the match. The Buckeyes saved one set point, but King and Milstein combined for a block for a 25-23 win.

GCU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the third and led the rest of the set, hitting .476 with 14 kills. The Lopes had the balance Price liked. Mather had four kills. Saada and Lipscombe each had three, while middles Christian Ward and King both had two.

Ward and King combined for six kills and had just one error in nine swings. King had seven blocks, including one solo and Ward had five along with two service aces and two assists.

The Lopes looked like they were going to take care of business in four sets, leading by five as late as 17-12, but the Buckeyes rallied to force the fifth set.

"After having a tough weekend on the road last week (with two losses at Quincy), for us to bounce back and pick up a split after last night's tough loss, was a big deal," said Price.

Both teams had 13 blocks. GCU hit .280 with 52 kills. The Buckeyes had 56 kills and hit .256. The Lopes had 23 service errors, but were able to get season-best 10 aces. Ohio State had five aces and 16 errors. The Lopes had more digs, 30-28.

"I really liked the grit we showed in the fifth set," added Price. "We had led in the fourth and Ohio State made a great comeback and then they led 3-1 in the fifth and again late. We kept hanging around."

GCU returns to the court with matches Friday and Saturday at Antelope Gym. The Lopes take on Barton at noon and Concordia-Irvine at 7 on Friday and Barton again Saturday at 2 p.m. Fans unable to attend can follow live action at www.gculopes.com.

GCU 3, OSU 2