Lopes back on the road at BYU


No. 9 Grand Canyon Lopes (7-6, 1-1 MPSF)	vs	No. 13 BYU Cougars (5-7, 0-0 MPSF)
		Friday-Saturday, Feb. 25-26 7 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match Notes		Live Stats Live Video

The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team will face its first conference foe on the road when it travels to familiar foe No. 13 BYU this weekend. The Lopes are coming off a weekend split against No. 8 Pepperdine in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation opening weekend.

Both matches will stream live on BYUtv.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

MPSF PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Redshirt sophomore Camden Gianni was nearly unstoppable against the Waves, earning his first MPSF Offensive Player of the Week honors. The GCU outside hitter began the two-match split with 20 kills on a .318 hitting mark in a four-set loss on Friday. It was the third 20-kill in the last four matches for Gianni. He followed up that performance with 18 kills and just one hitting error on 24 attacks in a Sunday four-set win. His .708 hitting was a new career high for matches when the Carlsbad, California, native had at least five attempts.
LOOKING TO SNAP STREAK: The Lopes head into this weekend looking for their first win at BYU. The Lopes are 0-5 at Smith Fieldhouse, one of the rowdier venues in college volleyball. Last season, the Lopes lost in four sets and five sets in the regular season before falling to the top-seeded Cougars in the MPSF Tournament semifinals in April.
POTENTIAL NO. 1 MATCHUP: After facing BYU this weekend, the Lopes could be in store for a pair of matches at top-ranked UCLA on March 3 and 4. The Bruins opened the season as the No. 2 team in the nation and moved up to the top spot earlier this week after defeating then-No. 1 Long Beach State. UCLA opens MPSF play against Concordia Irvine before welcoming the Lopes to Pauley Pavilion.

SCOUTING

BYU is in a bit of a funk entering its first conference matches after five straight defeats. It has been a roller-coaster of a season for BYU, which had to replace five starters after a run to the NCAA title game last season. The Cougars opened the season with two losses at Penn State before rattling off five straight wins, only to fall into the current five-match losing streak.

Senior outside hitter Davide Gardini has been the top offensive option with 147 kills, more than double of the next closest Cougar. Gardini ranks 15th in the nation in kills per set (3.6) and 20th in attacks per set (8.0) and points per set (4.3).

WHAT'S NEXT

The Lopes travel to No. 1 UCLA for matches on March 3 and 4.

For more GCU men's volleyball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Camden Gianni

Grand Canyon University Athletics