GCU sets program record, sweeps USC

Wednesday, March 17

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

3-4,3-4MPSF

USC

2-8,2-8MPSF

Southern California

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Mathew McGraw

3/17/2021 9:42:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

After 17 days off, Lopes record 13 aces in home win against Trojans

By: Cassidy Mace

Grand Canyon men's volleyball broke its program ace record in a 3-0 win over USC on Wednesday night. The No. 7 Lopes recorded 13 aces in the sweep to top their previous record of 11.

Freshman outside hitter Camden Gianni set a new individual GCU record with eight in the match. Sophomore outside hitter Christian Janke recorded three, and senior middle Ian McLain and junior setter Tanner Petchul each recorded one.

"The past couple weeks, we've changed up some of the things we do in the practice gym," GCU head coach Matt Werle said. "We're focusing on a quote (assistant coach) Keith Smith brought to the table which is 'Aim small, miss small.' We've had target stuff and made things as competitive as possible without competing in matches. We've tried to find a way to compete in our practice gym in every single thing that we do. And it obviously paid off tonight, those guys were ripping them from the service line."

GCU (3-4, 3-4 MPSF) took down USC (2-8-2-8 MSPF) in its first match since Feb. 27, finishing 25-14, 25-12, 25-20 over the Trojans.

"Not competing for a period of time can go one of two ways," Werle said of the 17-day hiatus. "It can be a situation where we're not ready to compete because it's been too long, or where we're so amped up and excited to compete. And I think that was more the case tonight."

The Lopes topped the Trojans in every statistic, finishing with 54 points, 34 kills, 30 assists, 25 digs and seven blocks.

Gianni led the team in kills (eight) as well as aces, followed by McLain and junior opposite Hugo Fischer with seven kills apiece. Sophomore middle blocker Kyle Thompson led the team with three blocks while sophomore setter Heath Hughes led in assists (24) and digs (eight).

"(Graduate assistant) Andrew McCall made a great point after the match that our second side has just been challenging the first side every single day," Werle said. "And that level of competitiveness in our practice gym really showed because our starters just made it look easy. It's like we've been swinging a weighted bat this whole time, so we took the weight off and guys were just going after it with confidence."

Three straight aces from Gianni put the Lopes ahead 12-7 in the first set. A point later, GCU extended the lead to 17-8 with a 5-0 run off a kill and an ace from McLain, kills from Fischer and Janke and a double block from Fischer and Thompson. The Lopes kept up the momentum, holding onto their nine-point lead at 20-11. Petchul added another ace and a pair of USC service errors gave the Lopes a 23-13 lead. A McLain kill and double block from Janke and Thompson secured the 25-14 win.

GCU got off to another quick start in set two, with back-to-back aces from Janke giving the Lopes a 9-3 lead. Another 5-0 run, featuring two more Gianni aces plus a kill and a block from McLain, pushed the Lopes ahead 17-6. GCU held onto the lead, finishing a 25-12 set.

The third set was the most competitive of the match, but the Lopes led early at 9-6. Janke made moves for the Lopes, getting a kill followed by a block to go up 14-10. He also served the ace that broke the previous school record of 11 for a 16-11 GCU lead. Gianni finished a quick three-point run with his record-breaking ace to take a 23-16 lead. Janke and Fischer took one more kill apiece to finish the set 25-20 and the match sweep.

GCU travels to Stanford this weekend for two matches. The Lopes take on the Cardinal on Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 6 p.m. (both Phoenix times).

"Stanford is a good team," Werle said. "It's kind of their last shot, so we know they're going to leave it all on court and give us everything that they've got. So, we just need to be sure that we keep building on what we did tonight and make sure we keep our bodies as healthy as possible because the rest of this weekend and next week, there are a lot of matches to be played. We've got to make sure we do everything we can to keep those matches as short as possible in our favor."