GCU pulls off comeback win against Quincy

Friday, February 10

Quincy, IL

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-5, 4-1MIVA

Quincy

3-7, 1-3MIVA

Grand Canyon

Quincy

2/10/2017 8:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Samantha Fell

QUINCY, Ill. – It's not how you start, but how you finish. At least, that was the tale for the GCU men's volleyball program on Friday evening. After dropping the first two sets to the Quincy Hawks, the Lopes battled all the way back to edge out wins in the next three sets and take the match. The final score was 17-25, 19-25, 26-24, 25-23, and 15-13 in favor of the Lopes. GCU improves to 6-5 overall and 4-1 in the MIVA with the win.

"Quincy played really well tonight," head coach Matt Werle noted. "We need to stop being surprised when a team plays well. Our pin attackers did a decent job tonight balancing our offense which then allowed us to free up our middle late in the match."

After a breakout performance against Concordia Irvine last weekend, outside hitter Cullen Mosher continued his strong play. Mosher led the Lopes with 17 kills for the match. He was followed by fellow outside Shalev Saada and middle blocker Drake Silbernagel. Both Saada and Silbernagel recorded 12 kills during the game.

The first two sets of the match were forgettable for GCU. The Lopes struggled against Quincy's blocking and defensive efforts. The block was a huge advantage for the Hawks all night as they had 13 team blocks compared to only three for GCU.

In the third set, Grand Canyon edged out a gutsy victory. The entire set was back-and forth until GCU went on a small run behind Silbernagel's serving to go up 23-20. Will Schwob entered the game during Set 3 and added three kills while Saada led the Lopes during the set with four kills. A Schwob kill put the Lopes up 25-24 and an attack error by Quincy advanced the match the Set 4.

As close as the third set was, the fourth set was even closer. The set had 15 ties and three lead changes. Silbernagel came alive in the set and notched five kills on only seven attacks. His kill following a GCU timeout at the end of the set gave the Lopes the 25-23 victory.

With momentum on their side, the Lopes jumped out to an 8-5 lead behind strong serving from Mosher. With the set tied at 13-13, Mosher had a huge kill to gain the advantage for the Lopes. Another attack error by the Hawks sealed the win for GCU.

"We made some timely plays in the fifth set," Werle added. "It was a full team contribution tonight."

GCU will face Quincy again at 6 p.m. MST tomorrow evening. The game will be broadcasted on the GLVC Sports Network.