Lopes comeback halted at BYU

Saturday, February 23

Provo, Utah

7 P.M.

Grand Canyon

7-10, 0-4MPSF

BYU

7-4, 3-2MPSF

Team	1	2	3	4	Final F
GCU	16	25	18	24	1
BYU	25	21	25	26	3

Photo by: BYU Athletics

2/23/2019 10:12:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU takes No. 9 Cougars to 4 sets, falls in Provo

By: Alex Nash

PROVO, Utah – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team gave No. 9 BYU a fight on Saturday night but came up short, falling in four sets by scores of 16-25, 25-21,18-25 and 24-26.

Though the result may have been the same as Thursday's match for GCU (7-10, 0-5), the feel was much different and not because of the 3,111 fans in attendance at Smith Fieldhouse.

The Lopes came out with a .035 hitting percentage for the second time in as many matches but saw improvements in many areas. The most apparent change came at the service line as the Lopes landed seven aces for the second time this season. BYU (7-4) led in all statistical categories and improved to 3-2 in Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play.

Sophomore opposite David Kisiel got back to his double-digit kill ways, leading GCU with 16. Freshman outside hitter Christian Janke tallied seven kills, seven digs and two aces, which tied the team lead with sophomores Ian McLain and Trevor Weary. Senior middle blocker Alex Shmelev was strong at the net again, recording five blocks while freshman libero Cole Udall added eight digs.

Slow starts have plagued the Lopes all year and it was apparent in the first set. GCU hit -.179 to start the match while the Cougars swung at a .471 mark. GCU committed 11 errors on its way to dropping the first set 25-16.

Head coach Matt Werle must have said something right to his Lopes because a complete 180-degree turn ensued.

Seven of the first 10 points went GCU's way, thanks to kills and blocks from McLain, Janke and Kisiel. BYU landed an ace to cut the deficit but Weary responded with an ace after a bad Cougar set to give the Lopes an 18-12 lead, forcing a home timeout. Setter Onur Cukur used a deceptive attack that was followed by Shmelev and Janke blocks that gave GCU its largest lead of the night. BYU tried to rally late but Werle used a timeout to halt momentum. McLain came out of the break and landed a kill to give his team the 25-21 set win.

The third set saw an early battle that was spearheaded by a Janke kill, which tied the score at 7-7. However, three 3-0 Cougar runs gave the home team the momentum it needed to take a 2-1 match advantage.

Just as it did in the second set, GCU responded by securing seven of the first 10 points, thanks to a Kisiel kill. Despite BYU runs, GCU kept its foot on the gas. Two Kisiel kills and a BYU error gave the Lopes a 19-12 lead. With a fifth set looming, BYU scored six of the next eight to tighten things up.

GCU led 23-22 after a Cougar kill that forced a timeout. BYU teamed for two blocks out of the break to take the lead. The Lopes used their last timeout and Kisiel responded with a kill to tie the set at 24. BYU completed the set comeback by scoring the next two points to end the match.

Next up, the Lopes return home for seven consecutive matches. March 1 marks the beginning of the homestand with No. 6 UCLA visiting GCU Arena at 6 p.m.