Fischer grabs 18 kills at No. 1 BYU

Thursday, February 18

Provo, Utah

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

1-2,1-2MPSF

BYU

4-1,4-1MPSF

Grand Canyon

BYU

2/18/2021 9:52:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

No. 10 Lopes fall in 4-set match, led by Fischer's 18 kills

By: Cassidy Mace

PROVO, Utah – Grand Canyon men's volleyball played its first four-set match of the season on Thursday night at BYU, which defeated the Lopes 26-24, 23-25, 25-18, 25-20.

No. 10 GCU (1-2, 1-2 MPSF) showed an impressive effort against top-ranked BYU (4-1, 4-1 MPSF), kicking off the four-match series with a promising performance.

Lopes junior opposite Hugo Fischer finished the match just one kill shy of his career high with 18 kills, filling out an impressive stat line with four blocks, four digs and one ace for 21.5 points.

Freshman outside hitter Camden Gianni also hit in the double digits for GCU, finishing the match with 16 kills, three digs, one ace and one block. Sophomores Christian Janke and Kyle Thompson each recorded eight kills, with Thompson going errorless for a .667 hitting percentage. Sophomore setter Heath Hughes led the team with 42 aces and sophomore libero Cole Udall recorded 10 digs.

GCU freshman middle blocker Chibuike Obi started in his first collegiate appearance against the Cougars, finishing the match with four kills, two kills, one ace, and one dig.

The Lopes took some time to hit their stride, trailing by as much as seven in the first set. A 6-1 run late in the set featured back-to-back blocks from Fischer before Obi and Janke allowed GCU to close the gap to 21-19 and force a BYU timeout. The Lopes went on a quick three-point run to tie the match at 22. GCU pushed the Cougars to one extra point but fell in the first set 26-24 after an impressive comeback.

In the second set, GCU's energy set up its first lead over BYU. The Cougars got a small advantage to start the set, but the Lopes were able to tie it at 10-10 before kills from Thompson, Janke and Fischer pushed GCU ahead 15-13. BYU came out of a media timeout with back-to-back points, but Thompson strung together another kill and an ace for an 18-16 lead.

The Cougars tied it back up at 18-18 before a back-and-forth battle led to the Lopes pulling ahead 23-22. GCU used a timeout before going on a 3-0 run with a kill and an ace from Janke to take the set 25-23.

The Lopes pulled ahead 9-5 early in the third set. Gianni scored three of the nine points with two kills and an ace and Obi added his first career kill and an ace to help GCU take the lead. Obi and Gianni each tacked on one more kill to extend the lead to 12-9, but BYU went on a 6-1 run for a 20-16 advantage. The Cougars pushed ahead to take the set 25-18.

Thompson pushed the Lopes offensively with three kills to start the fourth set, helping GCU take a 5-3 lead. He picked up his fourth kill of the set for a 9-8 edge, but BYU regained the lead. The Cougars led 15-12 going into the media timeout and pushed ahead 21-15. Thompson recorded yet another kill in a late three-point run to close the gap to 23-19, but the Cougars finished the match with a 25-20 set win.

GCU and BYU face off again on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Provo, Utah, before the Lopes return home to challenge the Cougars on Feb. 25-26.