Lopes sweep No. 12 Stanford

Thursday, March 31

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

15-9,5-4MPSF

Stanford

10-10,2-5MPSF

Stanford

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Zach Campbell

3/31/2022 8:15:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

GCU hits .400 with 6 service aces in offensive showcase

By: Jerob Moon

The No. 10 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team took care of business against No. 12 Stanford, winning 3-0 for its fifth straight sweep at home.

The Lopes (15-9, 5-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) did it all, hitting .400 with 6 service aces on offense and 7.5 blocks on defense that limited Stanford (10-10, 2-5 MPSF) to just .141 hitting.

In front of a raucous crowd at GCU Arena, the Lopes hit .579 in the first set for a 25-21 win. GCU recorded its second attacking error of the set to give the Cardinal an 8-7 lead, but the Lopes were dominant from that point by going 11 for 17 in attacking chances for the rest of the set. Redshirt junior pposite Hugo Fischer led all Lopes with four kills while junior middle blocker Colin Lovejoy provided the defense with two solo blocks. Tied at 13-13, GCU went on a 7-1 run to put the set out of reach and Fischer finished the set with a kill.

Lopes redshirt sophomore outside hitter Camden Gianni came alive in the second set, collecting six of his match-high 13 kills in a 25-20 win. The Lopes weren't as sharp offensively, hitting .276, but they limited the Cardinal to just .050 hitting in the set. Stanford outside hitter Will Rottman, the conference kills leader, finished the second frame with just two kills on eight attempts. It was another close set through the first half, but another crucial 4-0 GCU run extended its lead to 20-15. The final three GCU points came from a Lovejoy kill, ace by redshirt junior outside hitter Christian Janke and a Fischer kill.

The third set was dominated by the Lopes, who won 25-15 as they held Stanford to just nine kills with seven errors. On the flip side, GCU poured it on offensively, recording three service aces and just two attacking errors. Down 3-2 early, the Lopes exploded for an 11-2 run to flip the momentum and lead 13-5. Later in the set, Gianni and redshirt junio middle blocker Kyle Thompson combined for three straight kills, and Gianni ended the match with his second service ace.

Janke finished with nine kills while redshirt freshman setter Nicholas Slight and Fischer each had four blocks.

The Lopes will look for another top-15 win against the Cardinal on Saturday at 4 p.m. inside GCU Arena.