No. 7 Lopes defeat Stanford on the road

Saturday, March 20

Stanford, Calif.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

4-5, 4-5MPSF

Stanford

1-8, 1-8MPSF

Grand Canyon

Stanford

Photo by: Mathew McGraw

3/20/2021 8:15:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU takes down Stanford to split the weekend

By: Cassidy Mace

STANFORD, Calif. - Grand Canyon men's volleyball took down Stanford on the road Saturday 3-1. The No. 7 Lopes (4-5, 4-5 MPSF) bounced back from their match last night to defeat the Cardinal (1-8, 1-8 MPSF) in four sets.

Outsides Camden Gianni, a freshman, and Christian Janke, a sophomore, recorded 13 kills in the match, Gianni also recording six digs, four aces and two blocks. Junior opposite Hugo Fischer picked up 12 kills in the match while senior middle block Ian McLain had 10.

GCU started the match with a 7-1 run with two kills from Gianni, two from Fischer and one from McLain. The Lopes stayed on top, extending their lead at 15-7. Three more kills from Gianni, Fischer and McLain put GCU up 19-11. Janke picked up his third kill of the match to lead 20-12 and a solo block from Gianni forced the Stanford timeout at 21-12. Janke followed up with the first ace of the match and a triple block from Gianni, sophomore setter Heath Hughes and sophomore middle Kyle Thompson gave GCU a 23-13 lead. Hughes picked up another block to set up the set point and Stanford finished the set with an attack error to fall 25-15 to the Lopes.

Stanford won the second set 25-23 to force an extra set. The Cardinal led early at 6-3 but a GCU three-point run tied it up thanks to back-to-back kills from Janke. Stanford retook the lead with its own three-point run to lead 10-7. They held onto the lead until a block from Hughes and Thompson tied it up at 16-16. Stanford took another small lead at 19-18 before a McLain kill tied it up. GCU was able to pull ahead at 21-20 with an ace from Gianni. McLain picked up another kill for the Lopes to lead 22-21, but Stanford went on a 4-1 run to win the set 25-23.

The Lopes scored four straight points to kick off the fourth set against the Cardinal, starting with another Gianni ace. GCU pulled ahead even further at 9-3 thanks to two kills from Gianni, one from Fischer and one from Janke. Janke picked up another kill to help the Lopes lead 16-11. Thompson scored back-to-back points for GCU to lead 18-14, first with a kill and then an ace. The Lopes finished on a six-point run that included two kills from McLain and two aced from Gianni.

Janke strung together two points for GCU with a kill and an ace to lead 7-4 in set four. A three-point Stanford run tied it up at 10-10, but the Lopes answered with their own five-point run to lead 16-11. The teams went point-for-point until two straight points from Stanford caused a GCU timeout with the Lopes leading 20-17. Fischer recorded another kill before linking up with Thompson and Janke for a triple block to lead 22-17. Janke picked up two more kills to help GCU take the fourth and final set 25-19.

The Lopes travel to No. 4 Pepperdine March 26-28 for three straight matches vs. the Waves.