Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Skyler Coblentz
Lopes earn 4 All-MPSF honors
4/19/2022 4:00:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Gianni repeats as 1st-team pick; Slight named to All-Freshman
On the eve of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship, the Grand Canyon men's volleyball team was well represented with four All-MPSF honorees.
GCU outside hitters Camden Gianni and Christian Janke were named to the All-MPSF first and second teams, respectively, while middle blocker Kyle Thompson was awarded an honorable mention. Lopes setter Nicholas Slight earned All-Freshman Team honors.
Gianni, after a summer when he gained experience with Team USA, took a step forward in his game and earned his second straight All-MPSF first-team honors. The redshirt sophomore set new career highs in kills with 338 and nearly doubled his previous high in digs with 139. The Carlsbad, California, native also set a GCU single-season record with 48 aces, passing Chris Lockwood's 2010 record.
Gianni tallied double-digit kills in 21 of the 27 matches, including a new career-high 25 against Lewis in February. Nationally, Gianni ranks inside the top 20 in four categories, including seventh in aces per set at 0.53.
Janke was a consistent offensive threat for GCU all season, earning All-MPSF second-team honors. The redshirt junior set a new career high in hitting percentage at .346, which is 58 points higher than his previous best in 2020. Janke showed his versatility by finishing second on the team in kills (285) and service aces (33) and fourth in digs (125).
Thompson was one of the best hitters in the conference and coupled that with stellar defense to earn his first career All-MPSF honor. The Orlando, Florida, native missed the first nine games of the season but returned for the start of conference play without missing a beat. Thompson's .476 hitting is the second highest mark in a GCU season and he recorded 87 kills on 143 attempts. Thompson hit over .400 in the final 10 matches of the regular season, along with tallying 39 blocks in 17 matches.
Slight broke into the starting lineup this season and earned MPSF All-Freshman honors. The GCU setter redshirted last season and improved over the summer take over as starting setter early in the season. Slight led the Lopes with 762 assists in 82 sets to rank 22nd in the country at 9.29 assists per set.
The Storm Lake, Iowa, native also became just the fourth Lope in program history to record 60 assists in a match, doing so against Pepperdine in February. Slight was also solid defensively, finishing third on the team with 129 digs while adding 36 blocks, 13 of which were solo.
The Lopes will be in action on Wednesday for the quarterfinals of the MPSF Championship. No. 4 seed GCU will face No. 5 seed Stanford at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time).
GCU outside hitters Camden Gianni and Christian Janke were named to the All-MPSF first and second teams, respectively, while middle blocker Kyle Thompson was awarded an honorable mention. Lopes setter Nicholas Slight earned All-Freshman Team honors.
Gianni, after a summer when he gained experience with Team USA, took a step forward in his game and earned his second straight All-MPSF first-team honors. The redshirt sophomore set new career highs in kills with 338 and nearly doubled his previous high in digs with 139. The Carlsbad, California, native also set a GCU single-season record with 48 aces, passing Chris Lockwood's 2010 record.
Gianni tallied double-digit kills in 21 of the 27 matches, including a new career-high 25 against Lewis in February. Nationally, Gianni ranks inside the top 20 in four categories, including seventh in aces per set at 0.53.
Janke was a consistent offensive threat for GCU all season, earning All-MPSF second-team honors. The redshirt junior set a new career high in hitting percentage at .346, which is 58 points higher than his previous best in 2020. Janke showed his versatility by finishing second on the team in kills (285) and service aces (33) and fourth in digs (125).
Thompson was one of the best hitters in the conference and coupled that with stellar defense to earn his first career All-MPSF honor. The Orlando, Florida, native missed the first nine games of the season but returned for the start of conference play without missing a beat. Thompson's .476 hitting is the second highest mark in a GCU season and he recorded 87 kills on 143 attempts. Thompson hit over .400 in the final 10 matches of the regular season, along with tallying 39 blocks in 17 matches.
Slight broke into the starting lineup this season and earned MPSF All-Freshman honors. The GCU setter redshirted last season and improved over the summer take over as starting setter early in the season. Slight led the Lopes with 762 assists in 82 sets to rank 22nd in the country at 9.29 assists per set.
The Storm Lake, Iowa, native also became just the fourth Lope in program history to record 60 assists in a match, doing so against Pepperdine in February. Slight was also solid defensively, finishing third on the team with 129 digs while adding 36 blocks, 13 of which were solo.
The Lopes will be in action on Wednesday for the quarterfinals of the MPSF Championship. No. 4 seed GCU will face No. 5 seed Stanford at Pauley Pavilion on the campus of UCLA at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time).
2022 All-MPSF Awards |
|
| Award | Player, School |
| MPSF Player of the Year | Miles Partain, UCLA |
| MPSF Freshman of the Year | Guy Genis, UCLA |
2022 All-MPSF first team |
|||
| Player | Year | Position | School |
| Miles Partain | Sophomore | Setter | UCLA |
| Davide Gardini | Senior | Outside Hitter | BYU |
| Ethan Champlin | Sophomore | Outside Hitter | UCLA |
| Will Rottman | Junior | Outside Hitter | Stanford |
| Kevin Kobrine | R-Junior | Opposite | UCLA |
| Camden Gianni | R-Sophomore | Outside Hitter | GCU |
| Simon Gallas | R-Sophomore | Opposite | USC |
| Merrick McHenry | R-Sophomore | Middle Blocker | UCLA |
2022 All-MPSF second team |
|||
| Player | Year | Position | School |
| Christian Janke | R-Junior | Outside Hitter | Grand Canyon |
| Bryce Dvorak | Sophomore | Setter | Pepperdine |
| Sam Kobrine | Graduate | Outside Hitter | USC |
| Chris Hall | Senior | Setter | USC |
| Lucas Frassrand | Junior | Middle Blocker | USC |
| Austin Wilmot | Graduate | Middle Blocker | Pepperdine |
| Guy Genis | R-Freshman | Middle Blocker | UCLA |
2022 All-MPSF honorable mention |
|||
| Player | Year | Position | School |
| Jacob Steele | Sophomore | Outside Hitter | Pepperdine |
| Spencer Wickens | Graduate | Outside Hitter | Pepperdine |
| Cole Paxson | Graduate | Libero | USC |
| Kyle Thompson | R-Junior | Middle Blocker | Grand Canyon |
| Jaylen Jasper | Graduate | Opposite | Pepperdine |
| Ethan Hill | R-Sophomore | Middle Blocker | Stanford |
| Ido David | Freshman | Opposite | UCLA |
| Justin Lui | R-Junior | Libero | Stanford |
| Owen Chun | Graduate | Opposite | Concordia |
2022 MPSF All-Freshman Team |
|||
| Player | Year | Position | School |
| Guy Genis | R-Freshman | Middle Blocker | UCLA |
| Max McCullough | Freshman | Middle Blocker | Concordia |
| Nicholas Slight | R-Freshman | Setter | Grand Canyon |
| Ido David | Freshman | Opposite | UCLA |
| Grant Sloane | R-Freshman | Outside Hitter | UCLA |
| Teon Taylor | R-Freshman | Middle Blocker | BYU |
| Miks Ramanis | R-Freshman | Outside Hitter | BYU |
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's VolleyballFired up! Frey celebrates complete game shutout #collegebaseball
Saturday, April 04
GCU Baseball at Fresno State (Game 1) - Highlights
Friday, April 03
HALF-COURTER! It had to be green in the Melo Saint Patrick’s Day jersey 🎯🔥
Tuesday, March 31
TWO grand slams. ONE game. #collegebaseball
Tuesday, March 31