GCU falls to No. 2 in straight sets

Saturday, March 31

Provo, Utah

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

16-10, 3-8MPSF

BYU

19-5, 9-1MPSF

Team	1	2	3	Final F
Grand Canyon	17	17	23	0
BYU	25	25	25	3

3/31/2018 9:42:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Lopes swept at BYU to end road trip

By: Alex Nash

PROVO, Utah – Grand Canyon men's volleyball team fell to No. 2 BYU on Saturday night in straight sets. Scores were 17-25, 17-25 and 23-25. The Loss moves GCU to 16-10, 3-8 on the year while BYU improves to 19-5, 9-1.

The Lopes were bested in most categories tonight despite holding the Cougars to a .183 hitting percentage. GCU led in digs with 24 and added 27 kills, seven blocks, 26 assists while failing to record an ace for the first time this season. The Lopes were able to force BYU to commit more errors each set but could not capitalize and fell in three.

Cody Williams and Cullen Mosher led the team in kills with seven with Williams adding five digs and a block. Zachary Melcher got the start at setter and was good for 19 assists, three digs and two blocks, one of which came solo. GCU's middles sustained their efficient play with Caleb Blazer leading in hitting percentage at .571 to go along with four kills, and team-leading three blocks while Ashton King contributed three kills, two blocks and a dig with a .429 hitting mark.

BYU was coming off the wrong side of a reverse sweep at the hands of Concordia on Thursday night and made sure to jump out early and often on the Lopes. In the first two sets, the Cougars jumped out to leads that GCU would not catch and ended with the same 25-17 result. GCU hit at their best clip .172 in the first set but followed with a -.111 in the second.

The third set was the closest of the night despite a .029 hitting mark from the visitors. BYU got out to an early 8-5 lead but the Lopes showed their grit and worked to tie the set at eight following a solo block from Melcher. From there, both sides stayed within striking distance until a 21-15 Cougar lead gave the set a familiar feeling. GCU did not buy into it and went on to secure six of the next seven points behind kills from Mosher and Will Schwob accompanied by two momentum swinging blocks from Blazer, Schwob and Melcher. BYU called a timeout with their lead cut to 23-22 and secured the next point. Schwob tried to fuel the Lopes comeback with a big kill but the Cougars put the set and the match away on the next point.

Looking ahead

The Lopes head back to Phoenix to wrap up the season beginning with senior night on Monday against Benedictine-Mesa at 5 p.m. From there, USC will come to Antelope Gym as Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play comes to an end. The match is sure to have major playoff seeding implications and is set to start at 6 p.m. (MST).