Lopes host No. 5 Pepperdine

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team returns home to take on No. 5 Pepperdine on Friday night at Antelope Gym.

Friday's meeting marks the first of a nine-match stretch in which the Lopes are pitted against a top-15 opponent each time. GCU currently has the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation, according to the NCAA, and more challenges are yet to come. Thirteen of the this season's 14 matches came against top-15 opponents with 10 currently ranked in the top 10.

The Lopes (7-7) are coming off an 0-2 weekend in California, falling to No. 13 USC in straight sets and losing to Concordia-Irvine in four sets to start Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.

Sophomore opposite David Kisiel was the breakout star on the weekend, coming off the bench against Concordia-Irvine to record a team season-high 22 kills. Freshman outside hitter Christian Janke saw his double-digit kill streak come to an end at USC but started another one against Concordia-Irvine, recording 11. Janke is the only player in the country to have double-digit kills in each of his team's first 10 matches. Senior middle blocker Alex Shmelev climbed the conference rankings to rank seventh for aces per set and second in blocks per set.

This week's match will be a tale of offensive specialty versus defensive specialty. Pepperdine is first in the MPSF for kills per set and second in team hitting percentage while the Lopes are sixth and seventh, respectively. On defense, GCU is second in blocks per set and first in opponent hitting percentage while Pepperdine is last in blocks per set.

Just more than a year ago, the two teams met in Antelope Gym, marking the first time the Waves came to the Valley. The match was one of the highlights in GCU's impressive 2018 campaign, as the Lopes rallied back to complete a reverse sweep in front of a rowdy home crowd.

SCOUTING:

Pepperdine | Friday, Feb. 15, 6 p.m. | Phoenix

The Waves have fluctuated in the rankings slightly this season, bouncing between Nos. 5 and 6. Their only two losses came at the hands of top-10 teams, Loyola Chicago and UC Irvine. Pepperdine opened MPSF play against BYU and Stanford, recording sweeps in each match. Senior outside hitter David Wieczorek is the reigning MPSF Offensive Player of the Week after his performance against then-No. 7 BYU and No. 9 Stanford. The Chicago native averaged 4.3 kills per set and had a combined .571 hitting percentage. This marks the fourth meeting between the Lopes and the Waves with Pepperdine holding a 2-1 advantage.

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Players Mentioned

Christian Janke

David Kisiel

Alex Shmelev

Grand Canyon University Athletics