GCU continues home play this weekend

Friday, January 26

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

UCSD

Photo by: Slaven Gujic

1/25/2018 4:07:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Lopes take on UCSD and Ottawa on Friday and Saturday

By: Alex Nash


Grand Canyon Lopes (6-2, 0-0 MPSF)	vs	UC San Diego Patriots (5-1, 0-0 (Big West)	Ottawa (Ariz.) Spirit (3-2)
		Fri, Jan. 26 at 6 p.m. MST	Sat, Jan. 27 at 6 p.m. MST
		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

PHOENIX – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team (6-2) stays at home this weekend as they look to bounce back from a five-set loss to No. 6 UC Irvine last weekend. The Lopes will take on UC San Diego on Friday, Jan. 26 before facing in-state opponent Ottawa on Saturday, Jan. 27. Both matches will start at 6 p.m. MST.

GCU continues to move up the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll as the Lopes stand at No. 11, the highest ranking in program history. The one-spot jump in the rankings comes after last weekend's home-opening weekend and win over NJIT and a close loss at the hands of No. 6 UC Irvine. The home weekend had many positives, including the strong fan support. Both matches had over 1,000 fans and Saturday's attendance of 1,376 set a new Antelope Gym record for volleyball.

Shalev Saada was the offensive leader from the weekend. The senior recorded 30 kills over the last two games including a 20-kill performance against UCI, the second 20+ kill night of his career.

The 6-2 start is the best start in program history and the numbers back the record. Within the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation, GCU ranks third in kills, blocks and opponent hitting percentage. Individually Saada is third in the conference in kills with 80 while he, Will Schwob and Cody Williams all rank in the top 15 in hitting percentage. Senior setter Puna Kaniho is second in the conference in assists with 228 and fourth in average assists per game. Middle blocker Caleb Blazer leads the conference in total blocks with 31 and is averaging 1.11 blocks per set. Sky Engleman rounds out the Lopes rankings with 54 digs, second most in the MPSF.

The Lopes will play two games at home for the second time in as many weekends before hitting the road again. After playing two non-conference games on the road, GCU will start MPSF play at home against Pepperdine and UCLA.

SCOUTING REPORT

UC San Diego (5-1) | Big West | Friday, 6 p.m.
The Tritons are on a two match win streak with their latest victory coming over MPSF foe, Concordia. The lone loss on the season comes at the hands of No. 2 UCLA. The road trip to Phoenix will be the Tritons first trip outside of California in 2018. UCSD is hitting at a .300 mark as a team and average 13.2 kills per set. They are led by Tanner Syftestad who has 103 kills and a .316 hitting percentage. On defense they have three players with double digit blocks, Syftestad leading with 21. This will be the sixth meeting between the two teams with GCU leading the series 3-2.

Ottawa (Ariz.) (3-2) | Saturday, 6 p.m.
The Spirit are in their first season as a men's volleyball program. They come into the weekend with a 3-2 record and are on a one game losing streak after dropping a match to Benedictine-Mesa. Before taking on the Lopes the Spirit will play UCSD on Jan. 27 at 2 p.m. with the match against GCU starting at 6 p.m. The Lopes and the Spirit saw each other earlier in the academic year in a non-formal setting when Ottawa participated in GCU's Arizona men's volleyball showcase. The showcase featured club and NCAA teams from throughout the state. This will be the first official meeting between the two teams.