MPSF play starts at No. 12 USC


No. 5 Grand Canyon Lopes (11-0)	vs.	No. 12 USC Trojans (6-4)
		Wednesday/Friday, Feb. 15/17 8 p.m. (Phoenix time) Galen Center
Match Notes		Live Stats Live Video

The No. 5 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play at No. 12 USC. The Lopes are coming off a 3-0 win over Arizona Christian on Feb. 10, when 16 players saw the court as they wrapped up a seven-match homestand and an 11-0 start.

Both matches will be streamed live on the Pac-12 Network.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

MPSF LEADER: The Lopes have been one of the best offensive teams in the nation, recording a hitting percentage of .383 through the first 11 games. That ranks second in the country and at the top of the MPSF. On the individual side, junior middle blocker Rico Wardlow leads the conference with a .581 hitting percentage and has only eight errors on 93 attacks this season.
ONE OF FOUR: The Lopes enter MPSF play at 11-0, the only perfect record in the conference. GCU is also one of four unbeaten teams in the nation, joining Charleston (11-0), Hawaii (9-0) and Benedict (2-0).
RANKED OPPONENTS: With the start of conference play, the Lopes will enter the heart of their schedule with seven straight matches against ranked opponents. GCU already boasts three wins over top-15 teams this year, defeating No. 14 Ohio State in a neutral-site match at George Mason and getting two wins at home over No. 7 UC Irvine.

SCOUTING

USC and GCU tied for fourth place in the MPSF Preseason Coaches Poll and the Trojans have been ranked every week this season. A challenging nonconference schedule has the Trojans sitting at 6-4 with a win over No. 12 UC Santa Barbara on Jan. 19. Most recently, USC competed in the Pac-12/Big Ten Challenge and lost to No. 4 Penn State and No. 13 Ohio State in four sets each.

Freshman outside hitter Dillon Klein has burst onto the scene in his debut season, leading the team with 135 kills and 154.5 points. Klein has recorded double-digit kills in six of the last seven matches while hitting the 20-kill mark three times. Junior middle blocker Kyle Paulson ranks third in the MPSF in blocks per set and leads the team with 40 blocks this season.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes will continue MPSF play at Pepperdine for matches on Feb. 22 and 24.

For more GCU men's volleyball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes .

3 THINGS TO KNOW

SCOUTING

WHAT'S NEXT?

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Rico Wardlow

Grand Canyon University Athletics