Lopes fall short against Lewis in MIVA Tournament

Friday, April 15

Romeoville, ILL.

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

17-12

Lewis

18-12

Grand Canyon

Lewis

4/15/2016 7:04:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

ROMEOVILLE, IL – For the fourth year in a row, the GCU men's volleyball team ended their season against the Lewis University Flyers in the MIVA Tournament. Despite a valiant effort and mid-game comeback, the Lopes fell in four sets by scores of 25-15, 25-21, 23-25, and 25-17. Grand Canyon ends its season with a 17-12 record and the Flyers advance to the next round of the tournament.

"This hurts," head coach Matt Werle commented. "This is one of the first times we have walked into this gym feeling confident going into the match. In the end, they outplayed us."

The first set did not begin well for the Lopes. GCU fell behind 5-1 and was never able to get into a rhythm. Lewis tallied 14 kills in the set compared to a game-low of seven for Grand Canyon. The Lopes struggled to serve receive and also committed four errors behind the service line. Lewis won the set by a score of 25-15.

In Set 2, the Lopes rebounded well and play was back-and-forth throughout the first half of the set. Tied at 16 all, Shalev Saada then served two aces and four straight points to extend the GCU lead to 21-16. However, the Lopes were unable to score for the rest of the set and Lewis ended up with a 25-21 victory.

"We let Set 2 slip away which was a huge mental collapse," Werle added. "We did not serve receive well tonight. Lewis seems to be our playoff kryptonite."

Despite the breakdown in the previous set, GCU refused to give up in Set 3. Falling behind 7-2, the Lopes called a timeout and ended up clawing back into the match. Tanner Maxwell served five points in a row to give Grand Canyon a 15-13 advantage. The teams continued to trade points before two kills from Gerrard Lipscombe got the Lopes to set point. A kill from Christian Ward sealed the set victory by a score of 25-23 for GCU.

Following the pattern of the match, the Lopes fell behind early in Set 4. GCU found itself in a 10-2 hole early in the set. Again, Grand Canyon struggled offensively as the team committed eight attacking errors in the set. Despite three late kills from Lipscombe, GCU was unable to mount another comeback and fell by a score of 25-17.

Lipscombe led GCU with 12 kills and six digs for the match. The senior was recently named as a MIVA First Team selection and finished his career with over 1000 kills. Maxwell added 10 kills, four blocks, and five digs during the match as he was also playing in his final game. A third senior, Ward, contributed three kills, two blocks, and two digs in his last match.

"The six seniors moving on have done tremendous things for this program. I would like to thank them for all of their contributions."

Grand Canyon ends its season with the best record in program history. Seniors Lipscombe, Maxwell, Ward, Kyle Miller, Sean Saxton, and Aquiles Montoya III all will be graduating in April 2016.