Lopes face Stanford in MPSF quarters

Wednesday, April 20

Los Angeles, Calif.

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

Stanford

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

4/19/2022 8:45:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

GCU looks to continue season success against Cardinal

By: Jerob Moon


No. 4 seed Grand Canyon Lopes (16-11)	vs.	No. 5 seed Stanford Cardinal (12-13)
		Wednesday, April 20 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) Pauley Pavilion, UCLA
Match notes		Live stats Live video

The No. 4 seed Grand Canyon men's volleyball team begins postseason play on Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship, where they will take on No. 5 seed Stanford. The Lopes, ranked 10th nationally, will face the Cardinal, ranked 13th nationally, in historic Pauley Pavilion at UCLA.

The MPSF Championship will be streamed on FloVolleyball.tv. A subscription is required and the FloSports App is available on Android, Apple TV, Roku TV and Amazon Fire TV devices.

THREE THINGS TO KNOW

TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Lopes are playing in their fourth MPSF Championship since joining the conference in 2018. GCU has a 1-4 record all-time in the tournament and will face Stanford in the event for the first time. The program's first tournament win came last season against USC.
ALL-MPSF HONORS: GCU was well represented in the release of the All-MPSF awards on Tuesday. Outside hitters Camden Gianni and Christian Janke made the first and second teams, respectively, while middle blocker Kyle Thompson landed an honorable mention. Setter Nicholas Slight also earned All-Freshman honors.
CONTINUED SUCCESS: GCU had recent success against the Cardinal, bringing a three-match series winning streak into Wednesday's matchup. The Lopes swept a series against the Cardinal at GCU Arena earlier this year, winning 3-0 and 3-1. Overall, GCU has won four of the last five matchups against Stanford.

SCOUTING

Stanford was great at home this season, going 11-2 with losses against No. 1 UCLA and No. 5 USC. An 0-10 road record held back the Cardinal, which finished fifth in the MPSF. Will Rottman was the standout player for the Cardinal, earning All-MPSF first-team honors after leading the conference with 403 kills and 4.29 kills per set. Libero Jusin Lui and middle blocker Ethan Hill also earned all-conference honors.