Pair of top-5 foes await in SoCal

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team finishes its regular-season road schedule this weekend, traveling to Southern California to take on No. 4 Pepperdine and No. 5 UCLA.

The Lopes (12-12, 2-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) spent the better part of March at home, thanks to a seven-match homestand. After going 5-2 during that stretch, the road trip offers arguably the toughest two-game test of the season.

Pepperdine (17-6, 6-3 MPSF) sits atop the conference with UCLA (16-8, 6-3 MPSF) one spot behind. The two teams only have lost to top-15 opponents this year and boast impressive home records. The Waves are 9-0 on their home court this season while the Bruins are 7-1.

GCU has confidence entering the weekend after winning five of the past six matches with four wins over top-15 opponents. The Lopes are playing their best volleyball of the season and will look to keep it going against conference foes. After starting MPSF play 0-6, GCU got into the win column against then-No. 10 USC before defeating Concordia-Irvine in straight sets to kick off the second half of conference play.

Strong play from the Lopes' young core is one of the main reasons for recent success. Sophomore opposite David Kisiel has led the offense in the second half of the season, averaging 15.4 kills per match in his past 11 contests. There has been only one game that the Glendale, Ariz., native has failed to record double-digit kills. Redshirt freshman setter Tanner Petchul has been pacing the offense over the past six games, recording 30 or more assists in five of them. On defense, freshman libero Cole Udall has put the conference on notice. In his eight MPSF matches, Udall leads the conference with 2.30 digs per set and is the only freshman in the top 15.

As a team, defense continues to be the story for GCU. The Lopes lead the MPSF in opponent hitting percentage and have held 18 of 24 opponents under their season average. GCU has only allowed a team to hit better than .300 six times this season. Outside of Udall's dig performances, blocks have been the reason for defensive success. The Lopes are second in the MPSF in blocks per set at 2.35, only trailing BYU.

After the short road trip, the Lopes will return home to wrap up the regular season. GCU is set to take on No. 10 BYU on Thursday, April 4, before having Senior Day against Stanford on Saturday, April 6.

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Players Mentioned

David Kisiel

Tanner Petchul

Cole Udall

Grand Canyon University Athletics