Thompson returns in close Lopes loss

Friday, February 11

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

6-3,0-0

UC Santa Barbara

5-4,0-0

UC Santa Barbara

Grand Canyon

2/11/2022 9:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

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No. 9 GCU battles No.8 UCSB in 2nd straight 5-set match

By: Jerob Moon

The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team lost a close 3-2 match to No. 8 UC Santa Barbara in GCU Arena on Friday night.

It was the second straight five-set loss for the Lopes (6-4) as they overcame a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set but were unable to close it out despite holding match point against UCSB (6-4). The Gauchos won 22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 14-25, 20-18.

Despite the loss, the Lopes saw the triumphant return of redshirt junior middle blocker Kyle Thompson. Thompson missed the first nine matches of the season due to a medical diagnosis but was cleared this week and appeared in three sets on Friday.

The Orlando, Florida, native converted his first kill opportunity in the third set and finished with a trio of kills, digs and blocks.

In the first set, both offenses struggled to gain momentum as the Lopes barely outhit the Gauchos, .037 to .028, and took the set 25-22. The Lopes took advantage of eight UCSB service errors while outside hitter Camden Gianni tallied four kills and digs.

Gianni reached the 20-kill mark for the second straight match and set a new career-high with 11 digs.

UCSB answered back with a 25-23 second-set win. The Gauchos committed just three errors in 41 attacks and were led by outside hitter Ryan Wilcox's six kills on .625 hitting. The set was close throughout, featuring 21 ties and eight lead changes.

GCU libero Cole Udall was impressive, tallying six of his team-leading 16 digs in the frame.

UCSB was able to use that momentum to take a 2-1 lead with a 25-21 third-set win. The Gauchos recorded a .941 reception percentage and 12 digs.

Heading into the fourth set, Lopes head coach Matt Werle changed tactically by subbing in setter Heath Hughes for starter Nicholas Slight and moved outside hitter Christian Janke to the back row and weak side on offense.

Those changes worked as the Lopes dominated the set, winning 25-14 to even the match at 2-2. Janke tallied five kills on seven attacks with no errors in the set, when Hughes collected 13 assists and the Lopes went on a service ace spree with four.

The fifth set was just as dramatic as the first four with the Gauchos squeaking out a 20-18 win in extra points. GCU jumped out to a 7-4 lead but saw it quickly evaporate as UCSB answered with a 4-0 run. In a set that featured 16 ties, nine of them came after the Lopes held a 10-9 lead.

GCU lost a match point but was resilient at the end, saving three UCSB match points but costly service errors took away the momentum and the Gauchos won the final two points.

The Lopes and Gauchos will meet again Saturday night at GCU Arena with the match starting at 7 p.m.