GCU Arena welcomes No. 6 UCLA

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team is set to take on its fourth consecutive top-10 team when No. 6 UCLA comes to Phoenix on Friday. The match will take place in GCU Arena instead of Antelope Gym for the first and only time this season.

GCU is coming off an 0-2 road trip at Stanford and BYU last week. After falling in straight sets to No. 8 Stanford on Thursday, the Lopes responded with a hard-fought, four-set loss at No. 9 BYU. The match in Provo came down to extra points after BYU won two coaches' challenges (a GCU first with the new challenge rule) that helped give the Cougars momentum and the match.

Lopes sophomore opposite David Kisiel continued his strong conference start. After only recording three kills against Stanford, the Arizona native responded with a team-high 16 against BYU. Kisiel currently has the third-most kills in the conference since Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play began five matches ago.

GCU's defense has been on display all season and it shows on the stat sheet. The Lopes currently lead the MPSF in opponent hitting percentage and are top 10 nationally. Middle blockers Caleb Blazer and Alex Shmelev have been key in GCU's defensive efforts, taking two of the top three conference spots in blocks per set. As a team, GCU is second in the conference in blocks per set and third in digs per set.

The Lopes are in the midst of a nine-match stretch against all top-15 competition. Friday's match against UCLA marks the midway point of conference play, which contributes to GCU having the sixth-toughest schedule in the nation. The MPSF features five top-15 teams, four of which are in the top 10.

SCOUTING:

UCLA | Friday, 6 p.m. | Phoenix, Ariz. | GCU Arena

UCLA is one of two teams that has a perfect MPSF record heading into Friday. Three of the Bruins' four losses have come on the road this season with Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Cal State Northridge being responsible. Junior middle blocker Daenan Gyimah is the reigning AVCA and MPSF player of the week. Gyimah hit .629 during the week and averaged 4.2 kills per set in wins over USC and Concordia-Irvine. Setter Micah Ma'a also earned a weekly honor -- Off the Block's National Setter of the Week. Ma'a paced the Bruins offense to hitting percentages of .420 and .356. This will be the fourth matchup between the Bruins and Lopes with UCLA leading 3-0.

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Players Mentioned

Caleb Blazer

David Kisiel

Alex Shmelev

Grand Canyon University Athletics