No. 9 Lopes face No. 5 Waves in 3 matches

Friday, March 26

Malibu, Calif.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Pepperdine

Photo by: Mathew McGraw

3/25/2021 10:19:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

GCU travels to Pepperdine for Malibu tripleheader

By: Cassidy Mace


Grand Canyon Lopes (4-5, 4-5 MPSF)	vs	Pepperdine Waves (8-5, 8-5 MPSF)
		March 26-28 3 p.m., 5 p.m., 5 p.m. Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, Calif.
Match Notes		Live Stats Live Video

The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team travels to Malibu, California, for three matches against No. 5 Pepperdine this weekend. The Lopes are coming off a 1-1 weekend at Stanford with a win in the last match. GCU plays Pepperdine at 3 p.m. on Friday and 5 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. All three matches will be livestreamed here.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

RANKED: The Lopes have been ranked for nine straight weeks in the top 10 of the National Volleyball Association/American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II Men's Poll, checking in at No. 9 this week. GCU earned its highest ranking in program history at No. 6 on March 1 after defeating No. 1 BYU in three sets.
PUTTING UP STATS: GCU is ranked in the top 10 nationally in five categories: fourth in aces per set (1.86), hitting percentage (.329) and kills per set (13.04); fifth in blocks per set (2.679); and seventh in assists per set (12.14).
MPSF HONORS: Sophomore outside hitter Christian Janke earned the Lopes' first weekly honor from the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation on March 1. Janke was named Defensive Player of the Week after leading GCU in digs against No. 1 BYU.

SCOUTING

Pepperdine is ranked No. 5 in the NVA/AVCA Coaches Poll with a 8-5 and sits at third in the MPSF. The Waves kicked off the season with back-to-back wins over Concordia before dropping two matches at BYU. Pepperdine then went on a five-match winning streak, taking down Stanford three times and USC twice. The Waves then split a weekend with UCLA before dropping two more matches to BYU.

Senior outside hitter Spencer Wickens leads Pepperdine in kills (142) and digs (82) this season, while freshman setter Bryce Dvorack leads the team in assists (371) and aces (16).

The Waves went 8-6 last season, finishing 3-2 in the MPSF with losses to BYU and GCU.