Lopes edge Patriots in five sets

Saturday, January 6

Fairfax, Va.

3 P.M.

Grand Canyon

2-0 (0-0)

George Mason

1-1 (0-0)

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
Grand Canyon	25	23	25	23	15	3
George Mason	22	25	18	25	10	2

1/6/2018 6:41:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU takes first match of back-to-back with George Mason

By: Alex Nash

FAIRFAX, VA. – No. 15 GCU men's volleyball team took the first of two games against George Mason, winning in five sets on Saturday night. The Lopes outlasted a late rally to stay perfect on the year by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 25-18, 23-25 and 15-10. The win moves GCU to 2-0 on the year while GMU drops to 1-1.

"This was a huge road win for the program. The previous trip to George Mason was not as pretty for the Lopes. Our guys showed some real heart down the stretch." Said head coach, Matt Werle. "Offensively, Cody (Williams) was really good once again. He also had four aces on the night which is very impressive."

Cody Williams had a career night, leading the Lopes in kills, aces and blocks. The senior outside hitter tied his career high in kills with 18 and set new career highs in aces (4) and blocks (6) in addition to hitting at a .484 mark. Shalev Saada and Will Schwob each recorded double digit kills with 12 while libero Sky Engleman recorded double digit digs with 10.

The match was mirroring Thursday night when the Lopes went up 2-1 but the Patriots battled to take the fourth before GCU closed it out in the fifth. The Lopes recorded 52 kills to go along with 38 digs and had a hitting percentage of .291 while limiting GMU to a .216 percentage.

The first set stayed within two points until GCU took a 9-6 lead thanks to a Patriot error. GMU would pull the set within one before kills from Williams and Schwob, two GMU errors and a key block from Williams and Caleb Blazer had the Lopes up 20-15. The Lopes would go on to hit .500 and take the first set 25-22.

After limiting the Lopes to a .097 hitting percentage in the second set, the Patriots won the set and tied the match at one. The third set saw GCU score eight of the first 11 points to put them up early, 8-3. The Lopes had a comfortable lead until the match was within two but timely errors and another Williams kill put GCU up 15-10 and they would carry the momentum to a 25-18 set win.

Much like Thursday the Lopes led the match 2-1 and were up early, 10-6 in the fourth set. GMU would go on to land 7 of the next 9 points and take the lead 14-13. From there it was neck and neck with both sides using rally's to keep it close. GCU brought the match within one before a kill from Sam Greenslade gave GMU the 23-25 win and forced a fifth set.

The final set stayed within two points until the Patriots closed the gap late making it 11-10. Williams had a kill followed by two GMU errors, which set up a Saada kill as GCU went on to score the last four points and win the set 15-10.

"The guys still have some mental errors that we need to tidy up." Said Werle, "We need to improve on our defense and block positioning. We expect GMU to be better tomorrow. I am proud of our effort tonight. Go Lopes!"

Looking ahead

GCU looks to stay perfect and close out the weekend as they face George Mason again on Sunday. The match will begin at 11 a.m. MST. Following Sunday's match the Lopes will be on the road from Jan 12-15 as they participate in Off the Block's inaugural Grow the Game Challenge in Nashville, Tennessee.