GCU Gets Five-Set Victory At Hope

Wednesday, April 1

Fullerton, CA

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

13-12

Hope International

11-12

Grand Canyon

Hope International

Ryan Mather had 17 kills in four sets Wednesday at Hope International.

Photo by: Darryl Webb

4/1/2015 11:55:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Grand Canyon completed a season sweep of Hope International with a 3-2 victory at Darling Pavilion in Fullerton, Calif., Wednesday.

The Lopes improved to 13-12 with set scores of 32-30, 19-25, 26-28, 25-21, 15-12. The Royals, ranked No. 9 in NAIA, fell to 11-12. GCU defeated HIU 3-0 in Phoenix earlier this season.

Off the bench, in four sets, junior Ryan Mather had 17 kills, tying him for match-high honors with teammate Gerrard Lipscombe. Mather hit .333 for the contest. Lipscombe, along with his co-leadership in kills, stuffed the stat sheet with 15 digs, three service aces and five blocks, including two solos.

Freshman libero Sky Engleman set a new GCU standard for digs since NCAA men's volleyball went from 30-point sets to 25-point sets with 24 digs. It's the most by a GCU player since Trent Bruns had 21 against UC Santa Cruz on Jan. 9, 2012. In 2010, when it took 30 points to win a set, Bruns had 28 digs in match against Lees-McRae.
"Defensively, he was great," said GCU coach Jeremy Price of his freshman.

Price said when the team began passing better the results got better, too. "We were terrible in the first two and half, three sets, but when we started siding-out better, the match turned around."

Thirteen different players saw action Wednesday. Off the bench, Shalev Saada had 13 kills in three sets. Frosh Cody Williams had a career-best seven kills. Cullen Mosher had the last of GCU's 11 aces to get the final point of the match.

"Cullen did a nice job off the bench," added Price. "We scored a lot of points off his serving."

Setter Michael Milstein had 29 assists and two service aces in three sets. Williams and Tanner Maxwell also had two aces each.
The win ends a five-match losing skid. "We've played some good teams and we have lost some heartbreakers, so it's good to a get a win over a top-10 NAIA team, on the road and on their Senior Night," added Price.

The Lopes return to action Thursday to take on another strong NAIA team, Concordia-Irvine. The match begins at 7 p.m. Fans can follow the action with links at www.gculopes.com.

GCU 3, HIU 2