Lopes head to Nashville for tournament


Grand Canyon Lopes (3-0, 0-0 WAC)	at	North Greenville Crusaders (1-1, 0-0 Conference Carolinas)	Limestone Saints (0-2, 0-0 Conference Carolinas)	Hawai'i Rainbow Warriors (3-0, 0-0 Big West)
		Fri, Jan.12 at 2 p.m. MST	Sat, Jan.13 at 3 p.m. MST	Sun, Jan. 14, 12 p.m. MST
		Live Stats	Live Stats	Live Stats

PHOENIX – The No. 13 ranked Grand Canyon men's volleyball team (3-0) heads to Nashville, Tennessee for Off the Block's inaugural Grow the Game Challenge this weekend. The Lopes will take on North Greenville on Friday, Limestone on Saturday and No. 4 Hawai'i on Sunday.

The Lopes moved up two spots in the AVCA Coaches Poll last week to match their program-best ranking at No. 13. The ranking comes after GCU opened the season on the road, defeating Barton and winning both matches at George Mason. The season opener against Barton saw four sets and the first match against George Mason went to five. A Sunday sweep marked the end of a successful road trip and opening weekend.

Cody Williams was named the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week after his performances this past weekend. The senior outside hitter recorded 43 kills while hitting .453 in addition to six aces, eight digs and 10 blocks.

GCU looks strong to start the season with a number of notable performances. Will Schwob leads GCU in kills with 45 which is the fifth best mark in the country and is averaging 3.75 kills per set. Shalev Saada has recorded 27 kills while Caleb Blazer is also in double digits with 14, hitting at a .407 percentage and leads the team in blocks with 17. Puna Kaniho recorded 127 kills which is tied for second in the NCAA and his 10.58 assists per set is seventh best. Sky Engleman leads GCU in digs and is tied for second in the NCAA with 31.

The Grow the Game Challenge will feature 10 teams from all five Division I-II men's volleyball conferences. In addition to GCU and their opponents, the other participating teams include Lindenwood, Erskine, McKendree, Barton, Charleston and Lincoln Memorial. GCU and UH are the only teams in the AVCA Top-15.

SCOUTING REPORT

North Greenville (1-1) | Conference Carolinas | Friday, 2 p.m.

The Crusaders finished last season 8-19 and went 7-12 in conference before their season came to an end after a loss to King University in the Conference Carolinas playoffs. NGU has three seniors returning for 2018 including two-time All-Conference Carolinas middle blocker, Matthew McManaway. This season, sophomore Jackson Gilbert leads the NGU offense with 17 kills and averages 2.12 kills per set. McManaway anchors the defense with seven blocks in 2018 and Jake Boldog has recorded 13 digs. As a team the Crusaders are hitting .154 while their opponents are hitting .280. This will be the first ever meeting between NGU and GCU.

Limestone (0-2) | Conference Carolinas | Saturday, 3 p.m.

The Saints ended 2017 with a 13-11 record and went 12-6 in conference. In 2018 Limestone will be under new leadership with Steve Benson beginning his first season at the helm. Their attack is led by F. Salinger Cenzual with 14 digs while their setter, Logan Riley has recorded 37 assists. Cenzual also leads on the other side with four blocks with Florian Ruhm recording 18 digs. As a team, the saints are hitting at a .026 mark and average 7.5 kills per set. This will be the fifth meeting between the Saints and the Lopes. GCU leads all time 4-0, the last meeting happening in 2014.

#4 Hawai'i (3-0) | Big West | Sunday, Noon

The Rainbow Warriors continue to be a powerhouse as they come off a 27-6 record in 2017 and a trip to the NCAA Semi-Finals. UH comes into the tournament with a 24 match win streak against non-conference opponents. Prior to the season, the program landed five players on pre-season awards watch lists. In 2018 their offense is led by Stijn van Tilburg who has 24 kills, averaging 4.0 kills per set and is hitting at a 5.13 mark. Hawai'i has six players in double-digits when it comes to kills and three of their starters are hitting .400 or better. On defense, Dalton Solbrig has nine kills while Joe Worsely has 17 digs. This marks the seventh meeting between UH and GCU with Hawai'i leading 6-0 all-time.

SCOUTING REPORT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blazer

Sky Engleman

Puna Kaniho

Shalev Saada

Will Schwob

Cody Williams

Grand Canyon University Athletics