Grand Canyon University Athletics
Friday, January 13
Fairfax, Va.
5 p.m.
Grand Canyon
3-0,0-0MPSF
3
at
0
George Mason
0-1,0-0EIVA
1
2
3
F
Grand Canyon
25
25
25
3
George Mason
20
18
16
0
Photo by: Taylor Hansen
Offense turns clinical in 2nd straight sweep
1/13/2023 7:40:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Lopes hit .478 in 1st road match of season
FAIRFAX, Va. – The No. 9 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team kicked off its first road trip with a 3-0 win over George Mason in the first match of the Patriot Invitational on Friday.
The Lopes (3-0) were clinical in their second straight sweep, hitting .471 with just nine attacking errors while recording a season-high 11.5 blocks.
GCU senior outside hitter Christian Janke put in his best performance of the young season with a match-high 12 kills to go along with five blocks and a pair of service aces. Fellow outside hitter Jackson Hickman also continued his hot play to start the season with 10 kills on a .471 hitting percentage.
The first set was the closest with GCU winning 25-20. The Lopes had just one attacking error on 22 swings while hitting .609 and were balanced in their attack with five players recording a kill. A service ace from Janke gave GCU a 4-1 lead and the Lopes stayed ahad for the rest of the set. Hickman and Janke closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
The Lopes defense came to life in the second set, limiting George Mason (0-1) to seven kills while recording five blocks in a 25-18 win. Trailing 9-8 midway through the second set, the Lopes went on a 9-4 run to pull away at 17-13. That lead expanded with a 5-1 run that was capped by a Janke kill. Senior middle blocker Colin Lovejoy, in his first start of the season, ended the set with a kill.
GCU again limited George Mason to .000 hitting in a dominant 25-16 third set. The Lopes jumped out to an 8-4 lead and stretched the advantage to 14-8 with a 5-0 run. Janke did it all in the set, collecting six kills and two block assists and was perfect on three serve receptions. GCU scored seven of the final nine points in the match with Wardlow collecting the final kill.
Wardlow finished with nine kills and five blocks while sophomore setter Nicholas Slight had 31 assists and four digs.
GCU will be back in action Saturday against their first ranked opponent, No. 14 Ohio State, at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time).
The Lopes (3-0) were clinical in their second straight sweep, hitting .471 with just nine attacking errors while recording a season-high 11.5 blocks.
GCU senior outside hitter Christian Janke put in his best performance of the young season with a match-high 12 kills to go along with five blocks and a pair of service aces. Fellow outside hitter Jackson Hickman also continued his hot play to start the season with 10 kills on a .471 hitting percentage.
The first set was the closest with GCU winning 25-20. The Lopes had just one attacking error on 22 swings while hitting .609 and were balanced in their attack with five players recording a kill. A service ace from Janke gave GCU a 4-1 lead and the Lopes stayed ahad for the rest of the set. Hickman and Janke closed out the set with back-to-back kills.
The Lopes defense came to life in the second set, limiting George Mason (0-1) to seven kills while recording five blocks in a 25-18 win. Trailing 9-8 midway through the second set, the Lopes went on a 9-4 run to pull away at 17-13. That lead expanded with a 5-1 run that was capped by a Janke kill. Senior middle blocker Colin Lovejoy, in his first start of the season, ended the set with a kill.
GCU again limited George Mason to .000 hitting in a dominant 25-16 third set. The Lopes jumped out to an 8-4 lead and stretched the advantage to 14-8 with a 5-0 run. Janke did it all in the set, collecting six kills and two block assists and was perfect on three serve receptions. GCU scored seven of the final nine points in the match with Wardlow collecting the final kill.
Wardlow finished with nine kills and five blocks while sophomore setter Nicholas Slight had 31 assists and four digs.
GCU will be back in action Saturday against their first ranked opponent, No. 14 Ohio State, at 3 p.m. (Phoenix time).
Team Stats
GCU
GMU
Kills
42
26
Errors
9
18
Attempts
69
72
Hitting %
.478
.111
Points
57.5
36
Assists
36
24
Aces
4
7
Blocks
11.5
3
Game Leaders
Kills
12
Aces
2
Blocks
6
Kills
10
Aces
1
Blocks
2
Kills
9
Aces
0
Blocks
5
Kills
7
Aces
0
Blocks
3
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Men's VolleyballOH
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
/ Men's Volleyball
S
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