Unfamiliar territories await Lopes

Thursday, March 29

Stanford, Calif.

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

Stanford

Photo by: Travis Neely

3/27/2018 12:34:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

GCU travels to Stanford and BYU for final regular season road trip

By: Alex Nash


#13 Grand Canyon Lopes (16-8, 3-6 MPSF)	at	Stanford Cardinal (4-17, 1-7 (MPSF)	#2 BYU Cougars (18-4, 8-0 (MPSF)
		Thurs, March 29 15 at 7 p.m. MST	Sat, March 31 at 7 p.m. MST
Match Notes		Watch Live Stats	Watch Live Stats

PHOENIX – New conference often means new venues for Grand Canyon men's volleyball team. For their last road trip of the year, Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play continues in Stanford, Calif. against the Cardinal (4-17,1-7) on Thursday before the Lopes head to No. 2 BYU (18-4, 8-0) in Provo, Utah.

The race to host a MPSF quarterfinal playoff match is a tight one as No. 13 GCU is currently tied for fourth in conference standings. Stanford is at the bottom of the table while BYU sits in first, having already clinched a home playoff match.

The Lopes had just one match last week but were able to snap a two game losing skid. No. 14 Concordia came to Phoenix and fell in four sets thanks to efficient GCU play. A .310 hitting percentage and a couple of career nights helped the Lopes move into a fourth place tie with the Eagles. Cody Williams led the charge with 16 kills, three aces, seven blocks and seven digs. Ashton King had his most efficient night of the season, posting 13 kills with just one error, resulting in a .857 hitting percentage. Rounding out the offense both Cullen Mosher and Caleb Blazer recorded double digit kills with Blazer notching a career-best 10 to go along with seven blocks. On defense it was Will Schwob who shined with a career-high 14 digs in addition to three blocks and eight kills, just two away from his third double-double of the year.

Week 12 featured a pair of Lopes honored by the MPSF. King was named Offensive Player of the Week after his near perfect attacking performance and Scwhob took home the Defensive honor after holding Concordia's attack at bay. The weekly honors are the first for the Lopes since Williams started the season off with his Week 1 Offensive Player of the Week performance.

King moved up to second in MPSF hitting percentage, now sitting at a .437 mark, trailing only UCLA's Daenan Gyimah. On other MPSF leaderboards, Puna Kaniho moved into fifth in assists per set with 9.41 and Sky Engleman stayed in the top five in digs with 156. As a team, GCU has made its mark in the defensive ranks, standing at third in blocks and second in digs.

The road trip will be the last regular season travel for the Lopes before they return to Phoenix for senior night against Benedictine-Mesa on April 2 and the regular season finale against USC on April 6.

SCOUTING REPORT

Stanford (4-17) | (1-7) MPSF | Thursday, 7 p.m. | Maples Pavilion
The Cardinal are currently in a two game losing streak after dropping matches to UC-Irvine and USC. Their offense is led by Jaylen Jasper and his 286 kills, averaging 3.86 per set, a mark that is second best in the MPSF. Setter, Russell Dervay is fourth in the MSPF in assists per set with 9.78. On defense, Evan Enriques, brother to GCU freshman Avery Enriques, is second in the conference in digs per set averaging 2.34 while Kevin Rakestraw leads the team in blocks with 44. This will be the third meeting between the Cardinal and the Lopes with Stanford leading 2-0 and the Palo Alto trip will be just the second in program history.

BYU (18-4) | (8-0) MPSF | Saturday, 7 p.m. | Smith Fieldhouse
The Cougars have not lost since the beginning of February, currently riding a 13 match win streak which includes a perfect MPSF record. As a team BYU is top three in every category except kills and digs when it comes to MPSF ranks. Their attack is led by Gabi Garcia Fernandez and his 297 kills, averaging 3.45 per set. Leo Durkin leads the team in assists averaging 10.13 per set, a mark that has helped the Cougars hit at a .312 percentage. On defense Price Jarman leads the conference in blocks per set, averaging 1.27 while Miki Jauhiainen leads the team in digs with 115. This will be the second meeting between the two sides and the first trip to Smith Fieldhouse for the Lopes.