Lopes Earn Two Victories At Antelope Gym

Friday, March 6

Antelope Gymnasium

12 p.m.

Grand Canyon

11-7

Barton

9-12

Barton

Grand Canyon

Sean Saxton had six kills and seven blocks in Friday's win over Barton.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

3/6/2015 8:29:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

Grand Canyon ran its winning streak to three with a pair of wins Friday in Antelope Gymnasium. GCU (10-7) opened the day with a 3-2 victory over Barton (8-11) and closed the evening with a 3-1 win over Concordia-Irvine (8-5).

The Lopes will play Barton Saturday at 2 p.m., in Antelope Gym. Concordia-Irvine and Barton open the morning with an 11 a.m. match. Fans unable to attend can follow with live links available at www.gculopes.com.

"After a trying and tough day, I was pleased how we came out and were sharp from the beginning," said GCU coach Jeremy Price. "It's good to get two wins and have a lot of guys contribute in both matches."

Led by a season-high 18.5 blocks, Grand Canyon held on for a 3-2 victory over Barton in Friday's opener. The Lopes won by set scores of 25-16, 25-18, 22-25, 18-25, 15-10.
Grand Canyon hit .737 in the first set with 15 kills and only one error in 19 attempts, but hit just a combined .106 in the third and fourth sets.

Gerrard Lipscombe had a double-double with 14 kills, 13 digs and had a pair of service aces. Tanner Maxwell had a team-high 16 kills and match-best three service aces. He also added nine digs and was part of five blocks, including one solo. Sean Saxton had six kills and a match-best seven block assists. Jon Schaefer added nine kills.

The match had 24 ties and 10 lead changes. There were seven ties in the first set and four lead changes in the second.

Saxton and fellow middle hitter Keaton Berry combined to hit .450 with 11 kills on 20 attempts.

"I was really pleased with our middles and how we blocked in the match," added Price. "Tanner did a lot for us on offense and defense. He and Gerrard's serving were a big part of the win."

Setter Michael Milstein came in late in the fourth set and finished with 15 assists, one service ace and was part of three blocks.

In the evening match, GCU won by set scores of 25-19, 25-23, 24-26, 25-19 against an Eagles team that owns a win over Stanford and two victories over UC San Diego.

Lipscombe had his second double-double in the nightcap. The junior from Australia had 12 kills and 11 digs to go with four service aces. Shalev Saada had a match-best 19 kills. Libero Kyle Miller had 10 digs. GCU out-blocked the Eagles 11-6. Christian Ward led the way with six block assists. Ryan Mather had 13 kills; six came in the deciding fourth set.

"Ryan really came alive when we needed him," said Price.

Milstein had 44 assists, two service aces, eight digs and was part of four blocks.

"Gerrard was Mr. Consistency," said Price. "He was the only guy to play every point in nine sets. He was the model of consistency."

GCU 3, BC 2
GCU 3, CUI 1