Lopes fall short in four-set match with No. 6 OSU

Saturday, February 20

Columbus, Ohio

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-6, 2-4MIVA

#6 Ohio State

12-3, 7-1MIVA

Grand Canyon

Ohio State

2/20/2016 9:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The GCU men's volleyball team took No. 6 Ohio State to four sets but was ultimately defeated by scores of 25-22, 25-23, 17-25, and 25-16 on Saturday night. The Lopes fall to 9-6 overall and 2-4 in the MIVA while Ohio State improves to 12-3 and 7-1 in the conference.

"We are going to focus a lot on trying to figure out what our identity is," head coach Matt Werle stated. "We need to talk a lot about mental toughness and discipline."

After battling illness and injuries, the Lopes were able to return many starters to action during the match. Shalev Saada led GCU with 17 kills on 25 attacks after having limited playing time the previous night. Gerrard Lipscombe contributed eight kills of his own and added five digs.

The Lopes kept the entire first set close and were tied at 21 all. However, the Buckeyes were able to go on a 4-1 run thanks to some GCU errors and take Set 1. Grand Canyon had 10 kills in the set compared to 14 for the Buckeyes.

In Set 2, GCU got out to a slow start and faced a 6-1 deficit early. The Lopes were able to battle back behind two straight aces from Saada and grab a 17-15 lead. OSU eventually pulled away with its high attack percentage of .458 to close the set.

The third set followed a different pattern as the Lopes refused to give up and jumped out to a 10-7 lead, forcing OSU into a timeout. Grand Canyon continued to extend its lead behind strong attacking from Lipscombe and Ashton King. Saada knocked down the final point to earn the 25-17 set win for GCU.

In the fourth and final set, the Buckeyes returned with a vengeance as they served their way to a 7-0 lead. Tanner Maxwell recorded three straight aces in the set to bring the Lopes back within three points, but Ohio State reopened the gap and carried their commanding lead through the end of the match.

GCU takes a break from MIVA play as it travels to California to take on Concordia Irving on Thursday, Feb. 25. The match will start at 8 p.m. at CU Arena.