Cardinal defeat Lopes in 5

Thursday, March 29

Stanford, Calif.

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

16-9, 3-7MPSF

Stanford

5-17, 2-7MPSF

Grand Canyon

Stanford

3/29/2018 10:33:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU drops heartbreaker in Stanford to start road trip

By: Alex Nash

STANFORD, Calif. – Grand Canyon men's volleyball team fell in heartbreaking fashion in Stanford on Thursday night, losing in five sets. Scores were 25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 25-23 and 21-23. The loss drops the Lopes to 16-9, 3-7 on the year while the Cardinal improve to 5-17, 2-7.

After going up a set, the Lopes found themselves down two sets to one. The fourth set was hard fought but saw GCU come out on top setting up the decisive fifth. It took a total of 44 points to decide the match with Stanford eventually claiming victory. GCU recorded 58 kills, five aces, 29 digs and 13.5 blocks on a .255 hitting percentage. The Lopes had the edge in blocks while Stanford led in all other categories.

Cullen Mosher led the Lopes attack on the night, recording a team-high 17 kills while hitting .351 and led the team in digs with seven. After being named MPSF Offensive Player of the Week, Ashton King followed with 11 kills on a .435 percentage and led the Lopes in blocks with eight. Shalev Saada led GCU from the service line with three aces to pair with seven kills on a .333 mark. For the second time in as many matches, Zachary Melcher set a career-high in assists notching 40 in addition to three kills on three attempts and six blocks.

The first set gave insight into how the match would go as neither side could pull away and were deadlocked in a 15-15 tie. Back-to-back kills from Mosher gave the Lopes the lead and some breathing room and that was all they needed. Stanford secured three points late but Mosher buried another kill and put a stop to the comeback, winning the set 25-21.

Set number two had the same feeling as the first with the scored tied at nine but this time it would be Stanford that used a run to take the lead. The Lopes battled back to tie the match at 20 but Stanford would land five of the next six points and flip the set one script, winning 25-21, tying the match. The third set was all Cardinal as the home team hit .600 and held the Lopes to .033 leading to a 25-16 win, taking advantage of the match.

GCU responded in the fourth set coming out on top after some back-and-fourth play, hitting .308 and using runs to sustain the lead. On to the fifth.

The fifth and final set had an ominous feeling for the Lopes early, trailing 8-4 forcing a timeout. The break was just what GCU needed as Saada and Mosher teamed up with kills and paired with a Stanford error to tie the match at eight. Stanford used another run to go up by three but the Lopes did not go down without a fight. The Cardinal had an error and GCU followed with a solo block from Caleb Blazer and a kill from Luke Turner to take their first lead of the set. Up 15-14, the scene was set. Both teams traded leads until a 21-21 score was broken by Stanford who put the set and the match away, 23-21.

Looking ahead

Lopes travel to Provo, Utah for the first time in program history to take on BYU on Saturday. The Cougars are coming off their first MPSF loss, falling in five sets to Concordia on Thursday night. The match is set to begin at 7 p.m. (MST).