Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, January 21
La Jolla, Calif.
8 p.m.
Grand Canyon
at
UC San Diego
Photo by: Skyler Coblentz
GCU face 2nd straight Top-10 team
1/20/2022 4:49:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
No. 6 Lopes face No. 8 UC San Diego on Friday
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| No. 6 Grand Canyon Lopes (2-2) |
vs | No. 8 UC San Diego Tritons (2-0) |
| Jan. 21 8 p.m. |
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| Live Stats Live Video |
The No. 6 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team hits the road again on Friday when they take on a second straight top-10 team in No. 8 UC San Diego. It is the final road match of the month of January for GCU as they look for their first win away from GCU Arean after falling to No. 4 Penn State twice last week.
Friday's match will have no spectators allowed inside RIMAC Arena but fans can watch the match on ESPN+, a subscription is required.
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THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- STAYING STRONG IN THE RANKINGS: After two wins over No. 14 McKendree to start the season GCU jumped in the polls to No. 6 tying the highest ranking in program histroy. Despite two losses to a talented No. 4 Penn State team on the road, the Lopes remained at No. 6 ahead of the match with the Tritons.
- WERLE WINS VS ALMA MATER: Along with two matches against the Nittany Lions, head coach Matt Werle had a special match against his alma mater Juniata College on Jan. 14. Before a 3-0 GCU win in the exhibition, Werle was honored ahead of his official introduction in the Juniata Athletics Hall of Fame later this spring.
- HEADING HOME: After GCU faces UC San Diego on Friday the team finally heads back to the friendly confines of GCU Arean for the first time in three weeks. GCU will host Benedictine and Master's for two matches on Jan. 27 and 28 to wrap up the month.
SCOUTING
UC San Diego has started the season 2-0 after having their first four matches against USC, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara and Concordia all canceled due to COVID concerns. The Tritons took the court for the first time on Jan. 14 and 15 and took down Harvard 3-1 and swept No. 12 Stanford 3-0 at home.Senior outside hitter Kyle McCauley impressed in his first matches of the year tallying 31 kills with an impressive 4.43 kills per set. Defensively four Tritons recorded at least 10 digs with senior libero Matt Palma leading the way with 19. Middle blockers Logan Clark and Shane Benetz share the team lead with eight blocks.
LAST TIME OUT
- GCU dropped two matches to No. 4 Penn State and defeated Juniata College in an exhibition.
- Redshirt sophomore Camden Gianni led all Lopes with 31 kills against the Nittany Lions.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The Lopes host Benedictine and Master's College at GCU Arena on Jan. 27 and 28.
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Players Mentioned
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/ Men's VolleyballSenior Reflections
Wednesday, April 15
Baptized at GCU
Tuesday, April 14
Singles off BOTH bags. ONE inning. 🤯 #baseball
Sunday, April 12
HOMER from the DRONE 🥎 #collegesoftball
Saturday, April 11