Lopes face USC in MPSF Quarterfinals

Thursday, April 22

Provo, Utah

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

USC

Photo by: Mathew McGraw

4/21/2021 9:50:00 AM | Men's Volleyball

Match Notes

#4 seed GCU takes on #5 USC in the first match of the conference tournament

By: Cassidy Mace


Grand Canyon Lopes (8-10, 8-10 MPSF)	vs	USC Trojans (5-12, 5-12 MPSF)
		April 22 4 p.m. Smith Fieldhouse Provo, Utah
Match Notes		Live Video

The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball travels to Provo, Utah to compete in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation tournament this week. The No. 4 seeded Lopes take on the No. 5 seed USC on Thursday at 4 p.m. in the tournament quarterfinal. All matches from the tournament will be streamed live on FloVolleyball here.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

RANKED: The Lopes have been ranked for 13 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 for the fourth week in a row. 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 15 nationally in five categories: 10th in hitting percentage (.290), 11th in aces per set (1.41) and blocks per set (2.24), and 14th in assists per set (11.42) and kills per set (12.41).
MPSF HONORS: Four Lopes have earned MPSF weekly honors this season. First was sophomore outside Christian Janke being named MPSF Defensive Player of the Week on March 1 after a 3-0 sweep of No. 1 BYU, followed by sophomore setter Heath Hughes on April 12 after two wins over USC. This week the Lopes swept the awards with sophomore opposite Hugo Fischer being named the MPSF Offensive Player of the Week and senior libero Avery Enriques being named the MPSF Defensive Player of the Week.

SCOUTING

USC enters the MPSF Tournament as the No. 5 seed with a 5-12, 5-12 MPSF record. The Trojans got their first win in their season opener at UCLA, taking down the Bruins 3-1 on Feb. 13. USC then went on a seven-match losing streak before taking down Concordia 3-1 on March 13. After falling to the Lopes, USC got three straight wins over Stanford on March 26, 27 and 28. The Trojans finished the regular season on a four-match losing streak including two losses at home to GCU.

USC junior outside hitter Billy Fauntleroy ranks second in the MPSF with 4.29 kills per set and senior setter Christ Hall leads the conference in assists per set at 10.30.