Conference play continues on road

Thursday, February 22

Irvine, Calif.

8 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Concordia

2/21/2018 12:33:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

GCU plays first ever MPSF road games at Concordia and USC

By: Alex Nash


# 12 Grand Canyon Lopes (11-5, 1-3 MPSF)	vs	Concordia Eagles (5-6, 1-2 (MPSF)	USC Trojans (4-10, 1-3 (MPSF)
		Thurs, Feb. 22 at 8 p.m. MST	Sat, Feb. 24 at 8 p.m. MST
Match Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

PHOENIX – Grand Canyon men's volleyball team hits the road for two Mountain Pacific Sports Federation games before a week break. The Lopes (11-5) will travel to Concordia for a Thursday night tilt with the Eagles (5-6) before taking on the USC Trojans (4-10) on Saturday in Los Angeles. Both matches are set to begin at 8 p.m. (MST).

After a tough stretch of games to start conference play, GCU fell two spots in the latest AVCA Coaches Poll, now sitting at No. 12. The Lopes are coming off of facing three Top-15 opponents in the last four games and will face two squads who are receiving votes.

GCU is currently 1-3 in MPSF play and in the midst of a three game losing streak, their longest of the year. BYU and Stanford came to Phoenix for the first time in program history last week and both escaped with wins. Shalev Saada and Cody Williams led the Lopes offense, each posting 17 kills while Puna Kaniho and Zachary Melcher split the setter duties. Lopes fans saw a glimpse of the future last Saturday when a couple of young faces saw action. Redshirt freshman David Kisiel played three sets and landed four kills to go along with a dig. True freshman Trevor Weary made his GCU debut against Stanford and had an instant impact with five kills and two blocks to go along with a .625 hitting percentage. Both were praised by head coach Matt Werle who also expressed his pride for Ashton King after the senior became GCU's all-time leading blocker.

GCU's attack continues to be one of the best in the conference, currently third in MPSF and 12^th nationally with a .294 mark. Individually, Sky Engleman holds his spot with the second most digs in conference and ranks 10^th nationally.

The Lopes look to build on their road success as they are currently 5-0 in non-neutral site away games. Overall the squad is 7-1 away from Antelope Gym with the lone loss at the hands of Hawai'i on a neutral court in Nashville, Tennessee.

SCOUTING REPORT

Concordia (5-6) | (1-2) MPSF | Thursday, 8 p.m. (MST) | CU Arena
The Eagles will end their six game home stand against the Lopes after dropping a three set match to BYU on Feb. 17. Raymond Barsemian has played every set for Concordia and leads the offense with 141 kills, averaging 3.44 kills per set thanks in part to Chandler Gibb and his 9.63 assists per set. Hunter Howell and Taylor Faiduti lead the defensive side with their 43 blocks. Both the Eagles and the Lopes are new to the MPSF this year and will face each other for the 11^th time with GCU leading the series 6-4.

USC (4-10) | (1-3) MPSF| Saturday, 8 p.m. (MST) | Galen Center
The Trojans fell out of the AVCA rankings after dropping back-to-back matches against UCLA and Pepperdine. Their attack has been paced by Jack Wyett who is currently second in the MPSF in kills (192) and kills per set (3.69). True freshman, Sam Lewis leads the Trojan defense with 40 blocks and pairs with Wyett and his team-leading 74 digs. This will be the third meeting between GCU and USC with the Trojans taking the first two matches.