New foes come to Phoenix

Thursday, February 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

BYU

2/15/2018 11:50:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

Lopes to face BYU and Stanford for first time in program history

By: Alex Nash


Grand Canyon Lopes (10-2, 0-0 MPSF)	vs	BYU Cougars (8-4, 1-0 (MPSF)	Stanford Cardinal (2-10, 0-1 (MPSF)
		Thurs, Feb. 15 at 6 p.m. MST (GCU Arena)	Sat, Feb. 17 at 4 p.m. MST
Match Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

PHOENIX – Grand Canyon men's volleyball team (11-3, 1-1) welcome BYU (8-4, 1-1) and Stanford (2-10, 0-1) to Phoenix for the first time in program history. The matches will continue MPSF play after the conference opener last weekend. BYU brings in a No. 7 ranking and will face the Lopes on Thursday for the only match to be played in GCU Arena. On Saturday, Stanford comes to the valley and will be back in Antelope Gym. Matches are set to start at 6 p.m. and 4 p.m. (MST) respectively.

The Top-10 in the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll stayed the same last week with GCU and BYU sustaining their rankings. Thursday will be the third Top-15 in a row for the Lopes after facing then No. 11 Pepperdine and No. 2 UCLA last week.

The Lopes had their five match win streak snapped last week after going 1-1. On Thursday GCU showed their grit battling back from a 0-2 deficit to beat No. 11 Pepperdine in five sets keeping their win streak alive. However, No. 2 UCLA would go on to sweep the Lopes, handing them their first loss in two weeks. Cullen Mosher and Luke Turner led the Lopes attack with Mosher landing 22 kills at a .381 hitting mark and Turner adding 19 kills on a .533 hitting percentage. Ashton King continued to be an anchor on GCU's defense posting nine total blocks and seven digs. After his big weekend King is now five blocks away from becoming GCU's all-time leading blocker.

GCU continues to land on the national and conference leaderboard going into week seven. As a team the Lopes are ninth in the nation in hitting percentage with .311 thanks in part to setter Puna Kaniho and his 9.53 assists per set which ranks in the national top-20 and fifth in the MPSF. King ranks fourth in the conference in total blocks with 45 while Sky Engleman's 93 digs ranks second only behind Stanford's Evan Enriques.

As a team the Lopes rank third in conference hitting percentage, opponent hitting percentage and digs. In the overall standings GCU is third behind UCLA and Thursday's opponent BYU.

The two matches will end the Lopes four game home stand as they travel to California for the next two. MPSF play continues with away tilts against Concordia and USC.

SCOUTING REPORT

BYU (8-4) | (1-0) MPSF | Thursday, 6 p.m. | GCU Arena
The Cougars come to GCU Arena with a two match win streak after besting UC San Deigo and No. 14 USC both in four sets. BYU's four losses all come from ranked opponents but they have bested four ranked opponents as well, including the then No. 1 Ohio State Buckeys. As a team they are currently tenth or better nationally in several categories including assists per set (12.06), hitting percentage (.321), blocks per set (2.59) and kills per set (12.47). Gabi Garcia Fernandez leads the attack with 3.72 kills per set and averages 7.62 attacks per set while Price Jarman leads the defense with 1.06 blocks per set. This will be the first ever meeting between the two teams.

Stanford (2-10) | (0-1) MPSF| Saturday, 4 p.m.
The Cardinal are coming off a five set loss to No. 14 USC in their MPSF opener even with their season-best .350 hitting percentage. They come in at the tail end of a seven match road trip which ends against the Lopes. Stanford is led by Kevin Rakestraw and his .392 hitting percentage while Evan Enriques carries a 2.28 digs per set mark and leads the conference in digs. Evan has three brothers that play Division I volleyball, one of which he will see Saturday facing GCU freshman libero, Avery Enriques. This is the second matchup between the two sides with Stanford taking the first meeting in 2014, 0-3.