GCU Battles No. 3 Lewis For Four Sets

Sunday, February 8

Antelope Gymnasium

2 p.m.

Grand Canyon

5-4, 0-2

Lewis

10-1, 2-0

LEWIS

Grand Canyon

Head coach Jeremy Price

Photo by: Darryl Webb

2/8/2015 4:46:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Grand Canyon had a strong performance Sunday, but it wasn't quite enough in a 3-1 loss No. 3 Lewis at Antelope Gymnasium.

GCU (5-4, 0-2) lost by set scores of 26-24, 22-25, 25-16, 25-23. The Flyers are 10-1 overall and 2-0 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association.

"There were three deuce sets and we came out on the short end of two of three," said GCU coach Jeremy Price. "We weren't as efficient on siding out (56 percent) as we needed to, but I was happy with how we scored points, our blocking at the net and how we created pressure from our serving. They are a very good team and it's tough to beat an elite team."

Reigning MIVA Offensive Player of the Week Ryan Mather had 22 kills and hit .326. He also had five digs, a pair of service aces and was part of four blocks. Senior outside hitter Jon Schaefer had 14 kills and hit .448 to go with six digs.

As a team, GCU hit .268. Sophomore setter Michael Milstein had 41 assists and seven digs. Middle hitter Keaton Berry had seven kills and five blocks, including one solo. Gerrard Lipscombe had four service aces and nine digs. Libero Kyle Miller had 14 digs and middle hitter Christian Ward had a match-best five block assists to go with four kills.

Hoping to force a fifth set, GCU went on a 4-0 run to take a 11-8 lead in the fourth. Berry had a kill and block, while Schaefer and Mather each added kills. The Lopes went up 16-12 when Mather added an ace and kill, but after a Lewis timeout, the Flyers inched their way back and took the lead for good at 21-20.

In the victorious second set, GCU came back from a 17-12 deficit. A 9-1 run was aided by a pair of Lipscombe service aces, two blocks, kills from Schaefer and Ward and a Mather ace. A Mather kill closed out the set.

GCU had a 20-15 lead in the first prior to a Lewis 5-0 run. Three Schaefer kills gave the Lopes a 23-21 lead and a Mather finish gave GCU set point at 24-22, but the Flyers came back to tie, then win on a block and a service ace.

GCU continues MIVA play next week at McKendree with matches at 6 p.m. (Arizona time) on Friday and 6:30 p.m. Saturday. Check back at www.gculopes.com for live coverage links for the matches.

LEW 3, GCU 1