GCU rallies to upset No. 12 Loyola in five sets

Saturday, April 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-11

#12 Loyola Chicago

17-6

LUC

GCU

4/2/2016 10:11:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

PHOENIX – The GCU men's volleyball team pulled a huge upset over No. 12 Loyola-Chicago during its MIVA season finale on Saturday evening. The Lopes dropped the first two sets, only to bounce back and win the final three by scores of 20-25, 23-25, 25-20, 25-23, and 15-11. Grand Canyon finishes the MIVA season with an 8-8 record and improves to 15-11 overall.

"I am very proud of the team as a whole," head coach Matt Werle stated after the big win. "We talked a lot about outlasting our opponents. The way the guys off the bench came in with fresh legs and a different look helped tremendously."

Two of the players that stepped up in the final sets were setter Puna Kaniho and opposite hitter Luke Turner. Kaniho led the Lopes with 36 assists and contributed two huge kills and three digs during the match. Turner also added one kill, one block, and three digs in two sets of action.

Gerrard Lipscombe had another terrific night for the Lopes. The senior led all hitters with 22 kills while adding two aces and six digs. Outside hitter Shalev Saada also performed at a high level, adding 18 kills and leading GCU with nine digs. The pair has been a dynamic duo for Grand Canyon all season long.

In the first two sets, GCU struggled to attack. The Lopes managed 21 kills but had 10 errors compared to 26 kills and only seven errors for Loyola. Play was back and forth in both sets but Grand Canyon came up just short in each one.

Facing the brink of defeat, the Lopes struggled early in Set 3 and faced a 7-3 deficit. However, GCU refused to back down and rallied back behind six kills from Saada. The Ramblers also committed nine hitting errors in the set to aid the GCU rally. Grand Canyon battled its way back and won the set 25-20.

In the fourth set, GCU put together their best offensive match and tallied a game-high 18 kills. Lipscombe led the charge with seven kills but the entire team played scrappy volleyball to pull out a 25-23 victory.

Set 5 saw more impressive offense for the Lopes. GCU hit .636 in the set and was helped by a few big plays from Christian Ward. The senior had two kills and a block during the set to keep the momentum rolling. Ward ended the match with eight kills and a team-high four blocks. Lipscombe again led the Lopes with four kills and was an asset towards the end of the set. An attack error by Loyola sealed the 15-11 victory for GCU.

"This is a great win for this team leading into the conference tournament in two weeks," Werle added.

Next up, GCU plays its final two regular season matchups at home. On Friday, April 8, the Lopes will take on Concordia Irvine on 6 p.m. The team will also face Benedictine University at Mesa at 6 p.m. on Saturday, April 9. Following these two matchups, Grand Canyon will participate in the MIVA conference tournament.