GCU drops close matchup with Concordia Irvine

Thursday, February 25

Irvine, Calif.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-7

Concordia Irvine

10-2

Grand Canyon

Concordia (CA)

2/25/2016 9:49:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

IRVINE, Calif. – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team was defeated on Thursday evening by the Concordia Irvine Eagles in three sets. All three matches ended with identical scores, the Lopes coming up short 25-22, 25-22, and 25-22. GCU's record falls to 9-7 overall and the team remains 2-4 in the MIVA.

The Lopes have had closely contested matches with the Eagles in the past and this match was no different. Both teams were even in most statistical categories, with the main difference being attacking percentage. Corcordia Irvine hit .344 and recorded 44 kills on 90 total attempts while GCU hit only .296 and notched 36 kills on 81 attempts.

Offensively, senior Gerrard Lipscombe led the Lopes with 12 kills and six digs while Tanner Maxwell added eight kills and three digs. Middle hitter Ashton King led the defensive effort at the net with five blocks and libero Kyle Miller had six digs in the backcourt for the Lopes.

In Set 1, the play was back-and-forth and the score was tied at 17 all after a kill by King. The Eagles proceeded to score four straight points to extend their lead to 21-17 and put the set out of reach for GCU. The Lopes knocked down 12 kills but were unable to overcome some timely errors that hurt them towards the end of the set.

After a sluggish start in the second set, Grand Canyon battled back from an early five point deficit to grab a 15-14 lead after a Cody Williams kill, forcing Concordia into a timeout. The Eagles only committed one error for the rest of the set, negating the 15 kills recorded by the Lopes. Concordia played efficiently to regain the lead and closed out the match again at 25-22.

GCU found itself in another hole during Set 3. Sloppy play on both sides of the ball left the Lopes in a 16-9 deficit and head coach Matt Werle called a timeout. After the break, Grand Canyon turned to Lipscombe as the outside hitter knocked down four big kills to help the team battle back. Despite the rally, the Eagles closed out the match on their fifth set point attempt to win the contest.

Grand Canyon will rest for the remainder of the weekend before returning home for two MIVA contests against Ball State. The first match will be played at Antelope Gymnasium at 6 p.m. on Friday, March 4 and the second will begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, March 5.