No. 10 GCU opens season on road


Grand Canyon Lopes (0-0)	vs	UCLA Bruins (0-0)	Concordia Eagles (0-2, 0-2 MPSF)
		Friday, Jan. 29 Noon (Phoenix time) Pauley Pavilion Los Angeles, Calif.	Saturday, Jan. 30 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) CU Arena Irvine, Calif.
Match Notes		Live Stats	Live Stats Live Stream

The No. 10 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team travels to California to open the season with two weekend matches. The Lopes are set to take on No. 9 UCLA on Friday and No. 12 Concordia on Saturday night in their first matches since the unexpected ending of the shortened 2020 season.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

RANKED: The Lopes earned their highest preseason ranking in program history, checking in at No. 10 in the National Volleyball Association/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men's Preseason Poll. GCU earned its highest final ranking at No. 11 last season, as well as hitting their highest overall ranking at No. 8 on Feb. 24.
PUTTING UP STATS: GCU's season ended prematurely with the Lopes ranked in the top 10 for five categories: seventh in kills per set (12.8), eighth in assists per set (12.0), ninth in attacks per set (27.8), and 10th in winning percentage (.667) and hitting percentage (.299).
MPSF HONORS: The Lopes return all four of their Mountain Pacific Sports Federation postseason award winners from the 2020 squad. Outside hitter Camden Gianni earned GCU's first major MPSF award when he was named the MPSF Freshman of the Year, as well as being named to the All-MPSF second team and MPSF All-Freshmen team. Sophomore outside hitter Christian Janke joined him on the second team while senior Ian McLain, a middle blocker, and sophomore Hugo Fischer, an opposite, were named honorable mentions.

SCOUTING

No. 9 UCLA opens its season Friday against the Lopes. The Bruins went 10-9 in the shortened 2020 season, finishing 2-3 in the MPSF. UCLA was picked to finish third in the MPSF in the preseason poll. Returning for the Bruins is opposite Cole Ketrzyinski, who averaged 3.0 kills per set in 2020, as well as outside hitter Austin Matautia. Both were All-MPSF selections in 2020.

GCU defeated then No. 8 UCLA for the first time in program history on Feb. 21, 2020, taking down the Bruins 3-1 at GCU Arena.

No. 12 Concordia is 0-2 on the season with two losses to No. 7 Pepperdine. The Eagles started the season on the road, pushing the Waves to five sets before falling 3-2. Returning home for their last matchup on Wednesday, Concordia was swept by Pepperdine 3-0. The Eagles finished last season with an 11-10 record, going 3-4 in the MPSF before the early end. They finished with a five-match win streak at home, closing the season with a 3-2 over USC.

In the last meeting with the Eagles on Feb. 27, the Lopes fell in four sets on the road.

LAST TIME OUT

GCU finished last season ranked No. 11 in the AVCA poll with a 9-3 record, going 4-2 in the MPSF.
The Lopes recorded three wins over top-10 opponents in 2020, defeating No. 9 Stanford, No. 8 UCLA and No. 6 Pepperdine.

WHAT'S NEXT

GCU hosts No. 12 Concordia in a rematch for its home opener on Friday, Feb. 12.

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

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

LAST TIME OUT

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Hugo Fischer

Camden Gianni

Christian Janke

Ian McLain

Grand Canyon University Athletics