Lopes down Emmanuel in straight sets

Friday, January 10

Honolulu, Hawaii

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-1,0-0MPSF

Emmanuel

0-2,0-0Conference Carolinas

Grand Canyon

Emmanuel (GA)

Photo by: Courtney Metzger/Hawaii Media Source

1/10/2020 9:01:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Fischer highlights 3-0 win at Rainbow Warrior Classic

By: Cassidy Mace

HONOLULU — The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team took its first win of the season Friday night by sweeping Emmanuel 25-11, 25-16, 25-22 at the Rainbow Warrior Classic.

The match allowed 12 Lopes to clock time on the court as GCU (1-1) prepares to face No. 1 Hawaii in the tournament finale on Saturday night. Several Lopes who didn't see playing time in the team's Thursday season opener showed potential in the Emmanuel match.

GCU sophomore Hugo Fischer finished the match with a .625 hitting percentage on five kills, four service aces, a block and a dig. The opposite's season debut was topped off with a service ace for the last point of the match.

Lopes seniors Jack Burton and Caleb Blazer also made their first appearances of the season against Emmanuel (0-2). Burton, an outside hitter, collected four kills, two digs and a block, while Blazer, a middle blocker, led the team in hitting percentage at .667 with two kills and one assist.

Freshman outside hitter Camden Gianni and sophomore outside hitter Christian Janke each recorded eight kills, two digs and one block for GCU with Gianni adding an assist and Janke recording three service aces.

Lopes sophomore middle blocker Kyle Thomson got the match started with the first kill for either team. He quickly recorded his second to tie the match at 3-3. As Thompson stepped to the serving line, junior outside hitter David Kisiel collected his first kill of the night to give GCU the lead. After a series of errors from both teams, Gianni put the Lopes on track for a scoring run with a kill. GCU went 4-0 for a 10-5 lead, forcing Emmanuel into a timeout.

Gianni recorded another kill to go up 11-6, soon followed by back-to-back Kisiel kills to give the Lopes a 14-9 lead. The pair of kills gave the Lopes momentum to go on a 13-2 run, securing the first set 25-11. Janke recorded one of his three aces during that run, while Gianni collected back-to-back kills to put the Lopes up 20-10 and later made the final kill of the set.

Emmanuel came out with the first point of the second set, but the Lopes responded quickly with a 4-0 run. Five straight errors between the teams were broken up with a kill from Kisiel to give the Lopes a 7-4 lead. The Lions closed the gap to 9-7 before their service errors and back-to-back kills from Janke pushed the Lopes ahead 12-7. Janke recorded another kill, followed by his second ace to increase the GCU lead to 16-10. The Lopes rebounded from a pair of errors with a 7-2 run for a 23-14 lead. Fischer recorded his first kill of the season at 20-13, finishing the second set with three kills on three attempts over the Lopes' last five points. Janke closed the 25-16 set with a kill to put GCU up 2-0 in the match.

The Lopes were tested in the third set, when five errors in the first six points made for a slow start. Burton collected his first kill of the night to get the Lopes started on offense. Fischer followed up with a kill before recording back-to-back aces to give the Lopes a 7-4 lead. The Lions tied it at 7-7 and the teams traded leads before GCU retook control at 17-16 on a Janke kill. Blazer contributed a kill to push the Lopes to 19-17, but the Lions tied it at 19. Janke and Blazer paired up for two more kills, but Emmanuel kept pace to bring it to 21-21. The Lions took the lead at 22-21, but two Burton kills and two Fischer aces gave the Lopes a four-point run to end the set at 25-22.

GCU returns to action on Saturday as it takes on the host school of the Rainbow Warrior Classic, No. 1 Hawaii. The Lopes take on the Rainbow Warriors at 10 p.m. (Phoenix time), when it will stream live on BigWest.TV.