GCU hosts Park, UC San Diego

Friday, January 17

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Park

Buy Tickets

Photo by: Courtney Metzger/Hawaii Media Source

1/16/2020 2:06:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Lopes open home schedule this weekend

By: Cassidy Mace


Grand Canyon Lopes (1-2)	vs	Park Buccaneers (0-2)	UC San Diego Tritons (2-1)
		Friday, Jan. 17 6 p.m. Antelope Gymnasium	Saturday, Jan. 18 7 p.m. GCU Arena
Match Notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team hosts its home opener this Friday against Park in Antelope Gymnasium before taking on UC San Diego on Saturday at GCU Arena. The Lopes are coming off a 1-2 opening weekend at the Rainbow Warrior Classic, where they took down Emmanuel and fell to Harvard and No. 1 Hawaii.

Both matches will broadcast live on GCUTV.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

PUTTING UP STATS: The Lopes rank in the top 10 nationally in four categories. GCU ranks seventh in team attacks per set at 28.33, eighth in digs per set at 9.78 and ninth in two categories: aces per set (1.89) and assists per set (11.44). Individually, two Lopes earned top-10 rankings based on their opening-weekend performances. Sophomore outside hitter Christian Janke leads the nation in aces per set, averaging 1.11. Freshman outside hitter Camden Gianni ranks 10th nationally in attacks per set at 8.63 and 17th in kills per set at 3.50.
TOP-FIVE ATTENDANCE: GCU finished last season ranked fifth in the nation in average attendance with 1,051 fans per match. The number made GCU one of only five teams in the nation to average more than 1,000 fans per match. The Lopes also led the nation in percent of facility capacity last season at 70.1%.
WINNING WERLE: Head coach Matt Werle is on track to become the winningest men's volleyball coach in GCU history this weekend. The fifth-year coach needs one more win to top former coach Jeremy Price with 69 career wins.

SCOUTING

Park is 0-2 in the inaugural year of its men's volleyball program in Gilbert, Arizona. The Buccaneers dropped their first match to Benedictine on Tuesday, pushing the match to five sets before falling 25-11, 23-25, 21-25, 25-17, 15-8. The match against the Redhawks also marked the first conference match of their season. Sophomore outside hitter Trent WIlliams led Park with 12 kills, one assist and five digs. Sophomore middle blocker Seth Golleher also made a significant contribution with seven kills, two digs and five blocks. Golleher led the team in hitting percentage at .357.

The Buccaneers played their first home match against Ottawa on Wednesday, falling to the Spirit in four sets, 25-28, 25-22, 20-25, 25-20.

UC San Diego already has faced two top-15 teams this season. The Tritons opened with a big win over No. 11 Loyola Chicago at home, taking down the Ramblers 3-2. Two days later, UC San Diego fell to No. 6 Lewis in three sets. The Tritons picked up their second win on Wednesday against Vassar, defeating the Brewers in three sets. UC San Diego is set to play one more match before taking on the Lopes, facing No. 3 UCLA on Friday at home. GCU will serve as UC San Diego's first road match of the season.

After the first three matches of the season, the Tritons rank seventh nationally in blocks per set (2.82) and 10th nationally in opponent hitting percentage (.177). Junior outside hitter Kyle McCauley leads the Tritons in attacks per set, digs per set, hitting percentage, kills per set and points per set.

LAST TIME OUT

The Lopes fell in three sets to No. 1 Hawaii on Saturday at the Rainbow Warrior Classic in Honolulu.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU travels to St. Charles, Missouri, next weekend for the Lindenwood Invitational. The Lopes are set to face McKendree, Quincy and Lindenwood in the three-day competition.

For more GCU men's volleyball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.