Road stretch ends in San Diego

SAN DIEGO – Grand Canyon men's volleyball will wrap up its road swing this weekend with two matches in the San Diego area.

GCU will face St. Katherine on Friday and take on UC San Diego on Saturday before returning home.

Six of the Lopes' eight matches have been on the road this season, but this only will be the second and third true away games. GCU opened with a neutral-site slate that featured taking on host UC Santa Barbara, played two matches at home then had three more in Tennessee at Off the Block's Grow the Game Challenge.

The Lopes are coming off a long weekend at the Grow the Game Challenge, where they came out 2-1 after going five sets in each match. The Lopes fell to Barton but defeated Lindenwood and Lincoln Memorial. GCU's resolve was on display as it held a 2-0 advantage in all three matches and fought back to emerge with a winning record.

Two Lopes are coming off career weekends in Tennessee. Freshman outside hitter Christian Janke opened the tournament with back-to-back 20-kill performances, including a career-high 21 kills against Barton. The Carlsbad, Calif., native has yet to have a match with less than 10 kills and has recorded two double-doubles on the young season. Junior middle blocker Caleb Blazer set a career high in blocks against Barton with 12, a mark that tops in the NCAA this season. Blazer ended the tournament with 21 blocks and 13 kills on a .400 hitting mark. Janke and Blazer were named to the all-tournament team.

For the first time since April 2017, GCU does not hold a national ranking. This week, the Lopes dropped out of the AVCA Division I-II Coaches Poll but are still receiving votes. The drop comes off the heels of a tough stretch to start the season, facing three top-15 teams and another that was receiving votes.

As a team, GCU's defense has been the talking point this season. The Lopes currently lead the conference in blocks per set at 2.76 and opponent hitting percentage at .187. Blazer has teamed with fellow middle blocker Alex Shmelev to lead the conference in individual blocks per set.

SCOUTING:

St. Katherine | Friday, Jan 25., 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) | San Marcos, Calif.

The Firebirds are in their first full season of competition and hold a 2-1 record. The match against GCU will be their first in 10 days and their fourth at home. Service aces have been key to St. Katherine's success, recording 19 in the last two matches. In its two wins, setter Noly Mon has recorded 40 or more assists. This is the first meeting between the Firebirds and the Lopes.

UCSD | Saturday, Jan. 26., 6 p.m. (Phoenix time) | La Jolla, Calif.

This weekend will mark the Tritons' home opener after starting the season with six road matches. UCSD is 2-4 on the season and four of its matches have been against top-10 teams. Libero Ryan Lewis leads the team in digs (48) and his 2.40 digs per set are good for fifth in the Big West. Wyatt Harrison leads the attack with 52 kills, almost 20 more than the next closest player. This will be the seventh all-time meeting between the two sides with GCU leading the series 4-2.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Caleb Blazer

Christian Janke

Alex Shmelev

Grand Canyon University Athletics