MPSF second half starts in So. Cal

Friday, March 16

Los Angeles, Calif.

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

UCLA

3/14/2018 11:59:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Lopes travel to LA and Malibu to continue conference play

By: Alex Nash


#13 Grand Canyon Lopes (15-6, 2-4 MPSF)	vs	UCLA Bruins (18-5, 6-2 (MPSF)	Pepperdine Waves (10-6, 4-3 (MPSF)
		Fri, March 16 at 7 p.m. MST	Sat, March 17 at 5 p.m. MST
UCLA Match Notes Pepperdine Match Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

PHOENIX – Conference play continues on the road as the No. 13 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team travels to California this week. The Lopes (12-6, 2-4) will travel to No. 4 UCLA for a Friday night tilt with the Bruins (18-5, 6-2) before taking on the No. 7 Waves of Pepperdine (10-6, 4-3) on Saturday in Malibu. Matches are set to begin at 7 and 5 p.m. (MST) respectively.

The Lopes came off a bye week winning nine straight sets against non-conference opponents. In the AVCA Coaches Poll, GCU stayed at No. 13 for the third straight week. After facing two non-ranked opponents, two top-10 are on the docket. The Bruins jumped up one spot and sit at No. 4 and Pepperdine stayed at No. 7.

GCU hosted Menlo and Mount Olive (twice) last week and succeeded in their goal set forth by head coach Matt Werle, winning all matches in straight sets. The offense was led by Cody Williams and Cullen Mosher. Williams found his attack, playing in seven sets and notching 24 kills on a .487 hitting mark. Mosher added 21 kills and five aces while Shalev Saada led the Lopes from the service line with seven aces. Puna Kaniho and Zachary Melcher both saw time at setter and helped lead the offense to a .306 hitting percentage. Ashton King and Caleb Blazer teamed up to lead the defense with nine blocks each while Sky Engleman continued to set the bar in digs with 20.

The Lopes as a team find themselves among the conference leaders in hitting percentage (3rd) and opponent hitting percentage (1st). Individually, King ranks third in the conference in hitting percentage at .431 behind two opponents GCU will face this weekend, UCLA's Daenan Gyimah (.525) and Pepperdine's Michael Wexter (.465). Engleman stays among the leaders in digs, ranking fourth with 150 and 2.03 digs per set.

The road has been kind to the Lopes in 2018. In true away games (excluding neutral sites) GCU is 6-1 with the lone loss coming to Concordia.

SCOUTING REPORT

UCLA (18-5) | (6-2) MPSF | Friday, 7 p.m. (MST) | John Wooden Center
The Bruins are riding a three-match win streak following a sweep over No. 14 Concordia on Wednesday night. Their offense is led by Christian Hessenauer and his 252 kills, averaging 3.50 kills per set. Setter Micah Ma'a leads the MPSF in assists and has helped UCLA to a .347 team hitting percentage. Daenan Gyimah leads the defense with 91 blocks, teaming up with Ma'a and JT Hatch who each have 120 or more digs.

Pepperdine (10-6) | (4-3) MPSF| Saturday, 5 p.m. (MST) | Firestone Fieldhouse
The Waves stayed put at No. 7 after two ranked losses at the hands of UCLA and Loyola last week. Multiple MPSF player of the week winner David Wieczorek leads the offense with 194 kills and averages 3.8 kills per set. The offense hits at a .276 mark and is paced by Robert Mullahey's 641 assists. On defense, Max Chamberlain has 60 blocks while Noah Dyer leads the reception game with 202 digs.