No. 9 Lopes fall in 5 to No. 6 UCLA

Friday, April 2

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

UCLA

Photo by: Mathew McGraw

4/2/2021 9:31:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU takes 1st 2 sets over Bruins

By: Cassidy Mace

The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team pushed No. 6 UCLA to five sets on Friday at GCU Arena, falling 26-28, 23-25, 25-14, 25-22, 15-11. The Lopes (4-9, 4-9 MPSF) went up two sets over the Bruins (12-4, 12-4 MPSF) before dropping the last three to give UCLA the reverse sweep.

Freshman outside hitter Camden Gianni led the team with 18 kills in the match, also recording three digs, an ace and a block. Junior opposite Hugo Fischer also had double-digit kills at 14, picking up four digs, two aces and two blocks. Senior middle Ian McClain finished the match with a .800 hitting percentage with four kills on five attempts, also recording two aces.

The Bruins started off the match on a 4-0 run, but Ian McLain got the Lopes in the game with a kill. GCU worked its way up with a three-point run thanks to back-to-back kills and an ace from Christian Janke, putting the Lopes down by one at 7-6. The Bruins held onto their lead through 13-9, forcing a GCU timeout. Kyle Thompson and Camden Gianni picked up two kills to close the gap at 15-13 and back-to-back kills from Hugo Fischer brought it down to one at 20-19. Janke got another kill, followed by a Fischer ace to tie it up at 21-21. After the Bruins called timeout, Gianni got a kill and Fischer picked up an ace to lead 23-21. UCLA tied it up at 23, but kills from David Kisiel, Gianni, Janke and Fischer gave the Lopes the first set win at 28-26.

GCU carried the momentum into set two, going up 4-1 with an ace from Ian McLain and a kill from Heath Hughes. The Bruins took the lead at 6-5 but a 7-1 run for the Lopes put them back in the lead and force a UCLA timeout. The Lopes held onto their lead at 16-12 thanks to three service errors from the Bruins and a kill by Gianni. UCLA battled back to tie it up at 21-21, forcing GCU's first timeout of the set. Thompson helped the Lopes take the set 25-23 with three kills and a double block with Janke.

UCLA picked up an early lead in the third set, going up 15-6. The Lopes struggled to get back in the set, falling behind 20-8. McLain and Thompson both recorded kills to trail 21-10, and two kills from Gianni plus an ace from Janke combined for a three-point run. Gianni recorded one more kill for GCU, but the Lopes fell 25-14 in set three.

The Bruins pulled ahead again in set four, leading 10-6 to force a GCU timeout. Fischer came out of the timeout with a block to set the Lopes back on track and they went point-for-point with UCLA through 15-11. A three-point GCU run fueled by kills from Fischer and Janke made it a one-point set at 15-14. The Lopes stayed in the game with Thompson and Gianni combining for a block to make it 17-17. A UCLA run made it 22-17, but Gianni recorded three-straight kills to close the gap at 23-21. Fischer picked up one more kill, but the Bruins pulled out the set win at 25-22.

The Lopes stayed close to the Bruins in set five, trailing by one at 8-7 thanks to two kills from Fischer, one from Gianni and an ace from McLain. Gianni grabbed another couple of points for GCU with a kill and an ace to keep the Lopes in it down 10-9. A Janke kill had GCU trailing 12-11, but the Bruins pulled through with a three-point run to take the set 15-11 and win the match.

GCU and UCLA face off again on Saturday at 2 p.m. at GCU Arena.