GCU logs 3rd straight top-10 win

Thursday, March 14

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 P.M.

Grand Canyon

10-11, 1-6

USC

11-8, 3-4

USC

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Katie Severns

3/14/2019 9:41:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Defense, balanced attack lead Lopes to defeat No. 10 USC

By: Alex Nash

For the third time in as many matches, a top-10 team left Antelope Gym with a loss. The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team extended its winning streak on Thursday night by defeating No. 10 USC in four sets by scores of 24-26, 25-22, 25-20 and 25-23.

The win was significant in another way for GCU (10-11, 1-6), as it marked the first Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory of the season. The loss snapped USC's four-match unbeaten streak.

Defense was the name of the game again for the Lopes as they forced the Trojans (11-8, 3-4) into their worst hitting performance of the season, a feat they accomplished twice last week against then-No. 9 Loyola Chicago.

The effort was led by reigning MPSF Defensive Player of the Week, freshman libero Cole Udall. The Arizona native tied his career high in digs with 15 and now has double-digit marks in his past three matches.

A balanced attack also helped power the Lopes to a win with sophomore opposite David Kisiel leading the way. Kisiel recorded 15 kills on a .323 hitting percentage while adding seven digs for good measure. Freshman outside hitter Christian Janke was right behind him with 14 kills of his own on a .385 hitting clip.

The offense was paced by redshirt freshman setter Tanner Petchul and a new career high of 38 assists. Joining Udall on defense was sophomore middle blocker Ian McLain with six total blocks, one of which was solo. McLain also led the Lopes in aces and set a career high with three.

"We won the last two games against ninth-ranked Loyola so the pressure was all on us," GCU senior middle blocker Alex Shmelev said of the team's mentality heading into the match. "We had to come in with a clean mindset. Try to get every point, try to reset after every point and try to win with whatever it took."

Shemelv came up big for the Lopes every chance he got, recording nine kills on a robust .438 hitting percentage and added three blocks, including a big solo rejection.

GCU was 1-9 when losing the first set until Thursday and eight service errors put them in that position. However, the Lopes locked things down from the service line and stayed positive to take the next three sets and defy the season trend for the second match in a row.

GCU found itself in the driver's seat to start the match after a Janke kill gave the home side an 8-7 lead. However, the aforementioned service errors started to appear, and USC capitalized on its way to a 5-0 run. The service mishaps were really felt when the Lopes fought to tie things at 24-24, thanks to a free-ball kill from senior outside hitter Will Schwob and an error followed. USC secured the last point and the set despite being outhit .167 to .250.

McLain was determined to right the ship and did so with his first ace to give GCU a 4-2 lead in the second. USC scored the next two but it was all Lopes from there. GCU secured seven of the next nine points behind two Shmelev blocks and kills from Janke and Petchul, forcing USC into a timeout. The Lopes lead grew after a Kisiel kill and had the scoreboard reading 18-10. USC reminded everyone that it is a top-10 team when it stormed back behind strong offense and a 6-0 scoring run for a 22-22 tie. Janke ended the Trojan momentum with a kill that helped power the Lopes to three straight points and a second-set win.

USC came out swinging in the third set and jumped out to an 8-6 lead after three unanswered points. The Lopes responded with a run by capitalizing on Trojan errors with blocks from McLain, Kisiel and Scwhob for seven straight points. Trailing 15-10, USC used another small streak to bring the set within two, but it was GCU who responded again with four of the next five points. Leading 19-17, the Lopes were determined to close things out and did just that. Scwhob went up and won a joust to end the set and give the Lopes a 2-1 match lead.

To no one's surprise, the fourth set started off with both teams trading blows until the score read 7-7. USC broke the deadlock and started to gain momentum but Shmelev kept the Lopes in it with back-to-back kills to cut USC's lead to 15-14. The Trojans extended their lead to 18-15 after an ace and all signs pointed to GCU going to a fifth set for the third straight match.

The fifth-set feeling was put away after Janke used an ace to cap a GCU run for a 20-20 tie. In a bizarre play one rally later, Petchul sent a free ball over the net but no Trojan was there to receive it, giving GCU the point and momentum. The Lopes jumped out to a 24-22 lead but USC answered with a kill before the Lopes called their final timeout and won on a service error.

The Lopes look to keep their streak of defeating ranked opponents alive on Friday and Saturday as No. 14 George Mason comes to Antelope Gym. First serves are set for 6 p.m. (Phoenix time).