Grand Canyon University Athletics
Grand Canyon
Lees-McRae
Homestand continues against Lees-McRae
1/30/2023 2:40:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
Lopes in midst of 6 game homestand
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| No. 9Â Grand Canyon Lopes (6-0) |
vs | Lees-McRae Bobcats (2-1) |
| Tuesday-Wednesday, January 31-February 1 7 p.m./6 p.m. Antelope Gymnasium |
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| Match Notes | Live Stats Live Video |
Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.
THREE THINGS TO KNOW
- BEST START: With wins over the Fleet and Tritons over the weekend the Lopes improved to 6-0, their best start in program history. GCU surpassed the 2018 team that began the year 5-0. The team is also 4-0 at home with three sweeps against Lindenwood, Erskine and UC San Diego.
- RECORD BREAKER: Redshirt senior outside hitter Christian Janke made more history on Friday with his 129th service ace of his career, setting a new program record. Janke passed Ben Ponnet who held the record since 2014. Janke also joined Ponnet as the only Lopes with over 1,000 kills and 100 service aces in their careers.
- RETURN TO ANTELOPE GYM: The Lopes will return to Antelope Gym this week for the first time since the 2021 season. GCU holds an 80-59 all-time record in Antelope and they won their last two matches against conference opponent Concordia to end the 2021 regular season.
SCOUTING
Lees-McRae will leave the state of North Carolina for the first time this seaosn when they travel to Phoenix to face GCU. The Bobcats and Lopes have history with GCU owning a 5-3 record all-time. The two teams last faced each other in 2011, and the Lopes played the Bobcats three times in their inaugural season in 2009.
This season the Bobcats have started 2-1 with nonconference wins over Limestone and St. Andrews. Senior middle blocker Ace Backer leads the team with 23 kills on .444 hitting which is significantly higher than the team .191 hitting mark. While the team's hitting percentage is low the Bobcats have done well on defense limiting their opponents to a .181 hittiing percentage while recording 27 blocks in 11 sets.
WHAT'S NEXT
- The Lopes will wrap up the homstand against No. 7 UC Irvine on Feb. 3 and 4. The match on Friday will take place in GCU Arena while Saturday's match will be in Antelope Gym.
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