Fischer shines in Senior Day loss to No. 5 USC

Saturday, April 16

Phoenix, Ariz.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

16-11,6-6MPSF

USC

21-6,8-4MPSF

Southern California

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

4/16/2022 7:10:00 PM | Men's Volleyball, Paul Coro

Box Score Photo Gallery

No. 10 GCU's 3-set loss puts them at No. 4 seed for MPSF tourney

By: Paul Coro

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team held No. 5 USC to its fewest points scored in the first two sets of any match this season on Friday night but ended the weekend with nothing to show for it.

The Trojans continued the momentum of rallying to win from Friday's 2-0 match hole, one that only No. 1 UCLA had put them in previously, and spoiled the Lopes' Senior Day on Saturday with a 25-22, 25-22, 27-25 victory at GCU Arena.

MVB_vs_USC

10th-ranked Lopes (16-11, 6-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) began to put themselves in position to pull off the same sort of rally on Saturday when they took a 20-16 lead in the third set on a kill by redshirt junior outside hitter Christian Janke.

But with a USC quick kill, a dig off a Trojan's bicep into empty GCU sideline space and an off-speed ace, the Trojans (21-6, 8-4 MPSF) made the Lopes take a time out that did not quell the comeback. GCU held set point twice, but did not score consecutive points after a 19-14 lead and allowed Trojan kills on each Lopes set point.

USC won the match on a GCU error, putting the Lopes at .228 hitting for both weekend losses to the Trojans after hitting .400 and .325 against No. 12 Stanford last weekend.

GCU entered the series with a chance at the MPSF's No. 2 seed but will be the No. 4 seed for the MPSF Championship quarterfinals on Wednesday, when they will play Stanford at 5 p.m. at UCLA.

"The word I used in the locker room is just 'disappointment,' " GCU head coach Matt Werle said. "We did not rise to the occasion. We know they are a very good team. We know they were going to make plays. We just came out really flat. It was almost a lack of desire to try to win the match.

"It's sad that we had a lead that we blew in the third set. The one play that sticks out to me is they made a nice play on an attack and overdug the ball and we let it hit the ground. It led to a middle float-serving us for an ace. That was the deflation factor that led to them closing out the match."

On the Senior Day he shared with setter Heath Hughes, opposite Hugo Fischer played well in his final home game with team highs for kills (14) and blocks (four).

Fischer's parents, brother, two aunts, an uncle and three cousins traveled from Belgium to watch the 6-foot-8 Verviers native play Friday and Saturday. They immersed themselves among the GCU students, wearing shirts that showed the Belgian flag and spelled out "FISCHER" one letter per shirt on the backs.

"It's been really great," Fischer said of having his family at the matches. "I've never had that, so it's been awesome with everybody playing like it's our last game, because it is. I wish the results were better, but at the end of the day, I left everything out there so I'm not too mad at my performance."

The dominant service game that led the Lopes to 25-21 and 25-15 set wins at the start of Friday's match was not there Saturday. GCU stayed tight throughout the first set but never led and got no closer than 23-21 and 24-22 before the Trojans' .371 first-set hitting won out.

The Lopes led 13-9 in the second set but a questionable Werle challenge denial completed a Trojans 3-0 run to tighten the set. At 20-20, USC rattled off four consecutive kills and finished the match on another to win the second set, when GCU hit .067.

The Lopes did not trail the third set until the final two points. GCU was hitting .588 when it took a 16-11 lead with Fischer recording his seventh kill of the third set off an out-of-system bump by redshirt junior libero Cole Udall. It gave the Lopes their second set point at 25-24, but the Trojans ended the match with three consecutive points to secure second place in the MPSF.

"We're still in it," Fischer said. "We just have to make a good run for the MPSF tournament. I think we're capable of much more than what we just did. I have faith in our time and what we're doing."

The match marked the end of the home careers for Hughes and Fischer.

"Heath has taken a little bit of a step back and hasn't been a starter this year, but he has been the best teammate and I'm so proud of how he's conducted himself and the growth that he's made in the time that he was here.

"Hugo came to us not speaking too much English and now he has come into himself. He does a nice job of making eye contact and has the best sense of humor. I couldn't speak more about the character that he has as a young man. He will definitely be missed, but he should have some nice professional contracts in front of him."