GCU sweeps Lindenwood in three sets

Saturday, March 26

St. Charles, Mo.

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-10, 7-7MIVA

Lindenwood

4-14, 2-10MIVA

Grand Canyon

Lindenwood

3/26/2016 7:02:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – The GCU men's volleyball team pulled off its first two-game sweep of an MIVA opponent this season with a three-set victory over the Lindenwood Lions on Saturday evening. The Lopes won by scores of 25-18, 25-12, and 25-20 and improve their conference record to 7-7. Grand Canyon also boosts their overall record to 14-10 for the season.

"Tonight was very workmanlike," head coach Matt Werle commented. "Our starting crew did a nice job at setting the tone early. Their success led to allowing other guys to gain valuable match experience."

The Lopes played three very solid sets in the match. GCU recorded 30 kills with only 13 errors compared to 25 kills with 28 errors for the Lions. The Lopes also added five aces and eight team blocks against Lindenwood's two aces and five blocks. Grand Canyon was able to minimize unforced errors and play great team volleyball.

In Set 1, Grand Canyon started the match off strong by gaining a 12-6 advantage and forcing Lindenwood into an early timeout. A kill from Shalev Saada put the Lopes up 23-17 and the team was able to close out the set with a 25-18 win after two errors by the Lions.

During Friday evening's matchup, the Lopes won the first set and then dropped the second. Saturday night was the polar opposite as Saada served three aces and six total points in a row to help GCU to huge 11-1 lead. The Lions were never able to recover and Grand Canyon extended their lead to 20-9. A kill from Gerrard Lipscombe and another Lion error sealed the 25-12 win for GCU.

Again, the Lopes started the third set off strong, jumping out to 5-2 lead. Christian Ward served five straight points to bump the GCU lead to 13-6. The Lopes were able to make some substitutions and gain court time for many players. After battling through the last half of the set, Grand Canyon emerged with a 25-20 advantage.

Saada ended the match with 12 kills to lead the Lopes. Lipscombe tallied seven kills and three digs while Tanner Maxwell added five kills and six digs. Setter Michael Milstein had 17 assists for the match.

"I'm pleased with our effort," Werle added. "We will need to play better next weekend, but it was nice to take care of business quickly to rest our bodies for the week ahead."

Next weekend, GCU will return home for its last MIVA contests of the season. The Lopes will play Loyola Chicago on Friday, April 1 at 7 p.m. and again on Saturday, April 2 at 6 p.m. Both matches will be held at Antelope Gymnasium.