GCU heads out on Midwest road trip

Friday, February 4

Chicago, Ill.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Loyola Chicago

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

2/3/2022 1:53:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

No. 8 Lopes take 3-match winning streak to Loyola, No. 6 Lewis

By: Jerob Moon


No. 8 Grand Canyon Lopes (5-2)	vs.	Loyola Chicago Ramblers (4-4)	No. 6 Lewis Flyers (5-2)
		Friday Feb. 4 6 p.m. (Phoenix time)	Saturday, Feb. 5 6 p.m. (Phoenix time)
Match notes		Live Video Live Stats	Live Video Live Stats

The eighth-ranked Grand Canyon men's volleyball team, fresh off two 3-0 home wins, heads back on the road this weekend for matches at Loyola Chicago and No. 6 Lewis.

The Lopes are coming off a dominating week at home, where they took down Benedictine and Master's in straight sweeps. GCU outhit both opponents .399 to .113 while adding 14 blocks. Redshirt sophomore outside hitter Camden Gianni led the Lopes with 23 kills, seven aces and five blocks.

Lewis announced on Tuesday that it will allow fans to attend indoor events for the first time this season.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

TOP 10 NATIONALLY: Gianni has impressed through the first month of the season, ranking inside the top 10 nationally in four categories. The Carlsbad, California, native ranks second in aces per set (0.71), sixth in attacks per set (8.71), seventh in points per set (4.85) and ninth in kills per set (3.88). Along with Gianni, redshirt junior libero Cole Udall is 10th in the country at 2.33 digs per set.
HICKMAN STEPS UP: One GCU key during the three-match winning streak has been the emergence of outside hitter Jackson Hickman, who faces his former school, Lewis, on Saturday. In the last 10 sets, Hickman has recorded 22 kills on a .319 hitting percentage while adding 14 digs.
HOMESTAND COMING: After the current trip, GCU heads into an important four-match homestand that features the start of Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play. The Lopes will welcome No. 11 UC Santa Barbara to GCU Arena for the first time on Feb. 11-12 before hosting No. 2 Pepperdine for the start of conference play on Feb. 18 and 20.

SCOUTING

Loyola Chicago entered the season at No. 7 in the preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association Division I-II poll but dropped out in the most recent poll on Jan. 31. The Ramblers have yet to win a match against a ranked team this season, dropping two matches at No. 1 Hawaii to start the season, and a home match to No. 5 Long Beach State on Jan. 22.

Redshirt freshman outside hitter Parker Van Buren has been the primary offensive attack, recording a team-high 113.5 points and 97 kills. Middle blocker Jimmy Meinhart and outside hitter Andrew Lyons have been impressive at the net, recording 44 of the team's 58.5 blocks.

Lewis is coming off its first road trip of the season that featured a three-set loss to No. 2 Pepperdine before a 3-0 sweep of No. 4 UCLA. With the win over the Bruins, the Flyers jumped to No. 6 and extended the program streak of 184 weeks in the national polls that includes 62 straight weeks in the top 10.

Graduate student Tyler Mitchem boasts an impressive .513 hitting percentage, good for second highest in the nation to go along with a team-high 70 kills. The opposite/middle blocker has only committed 12 attack errors in 113 attempts this season. Defensively, Lewis ranks third in the country in blocks per set at 3.04 and is led individually by Mitchem and Tyler Morgan, who have combined for 63 of the team's 70 rejections this year.