Lopes sweep in home opener

Thursday, January 18

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

6-1

NJIT

0-6

NJIT

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Slaven Gujic

1/18/2018 8:55:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU off to best start in program history following 3-0 win over NJIT

By: Alex Nash

PHOENIX – The No. 12 Grand Canyon University men's volleyball team played in front of their home crowd for the first time in 2018 on Thursday night when they swept the New Jersey Institute of Technology. Set scores were 27-25, 25-23 and 25-14. The win gives the Lopes a 6-1 record, the best start in program history. With the loss, NJIT falls to 0-6.

"There are some bright notes to take away from this," Said head coach, Matt Werle. "I am happy that we were able to win a couple duce sets. Secondly, getting the first win at home is great. Our fan support is like none other across the country. It took some getting used to for our own guys because of how loud the gym is!"

The Lopes and the Highlanders battled in front of over a thousand fans in a packed Antelope Gym. The home court advantage seemed to help GCU as they led in almost all categories. Both teams had 85 attacks but GCU had the edge in kills with 39 while hitting .282 on the night compared to NJIT's 33 kills and .176 hitting percentage. On defense, GCU had 30 digs and 9.5 blocks.

Cody Williams and Shalev Saada led the Lopes offensively with 10 kills each while hitting .273 and .350 respectively. Ashton King continued his hot streak after being selected to the Grow the Game Challenge All-Tournament team this past weekend, contributing five kills with a .714 hitting percentage in addition to two digs and a team-high five blocks. Puna Kaniho was all over the court as he netted two kills on two attempts as well as an ace to go along with his 29 assists and four digs.

The first set established the tone for the night. GCU came out of the gates hot, going up 13-6 thanks to a 7-0 run fueled by kills from five different Lopes. The Highlanders responded quickly scoring six of the next seven points to bring the match within two at 14-12. From there the two teams were neck and neck, ultimately bringing the match to a tie at 25. Will Schwob would serve to an NJIT error and a Saada block followed sending Antelope Gym into a frenzy as the Lopes took the first set 27-25.

The second set picked up right where the last one left off. Neither team led by more than three bringing the score to 17 all. Two NJIT errors gave the Lopes an advantage they would not relinquish. Lead in hand, GCU used a couple of blocks and kills before a Highlanders service error gave the home team a 2-0 match lead.

The third set was all GCU. The Lopes carried the momentum over and used it to go up by as much as 18-9 late in the set. NJIT used a 3-0 run to close the gap before a service error killed their rally. Luke Turner, who got the start in the set, earned a kill and would serve the final four points before a double block from King and Kaniho ended the set and the match.

"Luke Turner did his job nicely tonight. He blocked the balls he was supposed to block, dug the balls he was supposed to dig and did his job from the service line," commented Werle.

"Our middles are coming along very nicely offensively and our quick back row attack is getting much better. With all that being said, we need to be a lot better on Saturday night against a much better team."

Looking ahead

The Lopes are back in action at home against No. 6 UC-Irvine on Saturday night. The Anteaters come into the weekend with a 4-1 record, with their only loss coming from No. 2 UCLA. UCI will play three matches at GCU during the next two days. They will face NJIT on Friday night before facing Benedictine-Mesa on Saturday morning. The Lopes and the Anteaters will wrap up the weekend as they go head-to-head on Saturday at 6 p.m.