Gutsy win moves unbeaten Lopes to 10-0

Saturday, February 4

Phoenix, Ariz.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

10-0,0-0MPSF

UC Irvine

7-3,0-0Big West

UC Irvine

Grand Canyon

2/4/2023 7:40:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Down 2-1, GCU completes comeback to sweep six-match homestand

By: Jerob Moon

The magical run for the Grand Canyon men's volleyball team continued Saturday night as they won their 10th straight match in five sets over No. 7 UC Irvine in Antelope Gymnasium.

The No. 9 ranked Lopes (10-0) held the early momentum taking the first set over UC Irvine (7-3), but the Anteaters responded with wins in sets two and three. But the Lopes fought back taking the fourth set 29-27 and prevailing in the fifth 15-13.

The Lopes are now the only unbeaten team in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation and one of five teams in the nation with a perfect record. The Lopes also become the first team in the country to 10 wins after a marathon six-match homestand in the last nine days.

Outside hitters Jackson Hickman and Christian Janke provided the offense with 19 kills and 17 kills respectively while Rico Wardlow had his best performance in a GCU uniform with 10 kills, six blocks and two digs. Setter Nicholas Slight guided the GCU offense to a .333 hitting clip while collecting 57 assists, a season high.

The defense came to play in the first set, a 25-21 GCU win. The Lopes held the Anteaters to -.100 hitting on 20 swings, collecting six blocks and two digs in the frame. Four different players recorded a block in the set as Wardlow led the way with three. Hickman also began his night on with five kills on nine attacks with no errors.

GCU held a 15-9 lead that quickly evaporated with a 6-0 UCI run that tied the set. The set remained close for the next few points but a 3-1 run by the Lopes pushed their advantage to 22-19. Hickman and Janke collected the final two kills of the set to finish it.

UC Irvine took the new two sets to flip the momentum and take a 2-1 lead. GCU struggled in those sets from the service line with 14 combined service errors and only one ace. The Lopes finished with a season high 29 service errors on Saturday after collecting eight aces in Friday's 3-1 win.

Down 2-1 the Lopes dug deep and took a competitive fourth set 29-27. The Lopes were in control the first half of the set leading by as much as four and pushing the lead to five at 21-16 late in the set. GCU held set point at 24-22 but UC Irvine responded with a kill, block and service ace to take the lead back at 25-24.

The two teams traded the next four points UCI held match point at 27-26. With their backs against the wall the Lopes won the next three points to finish the set. Wardlow and Hickman had back-to-back kills to give the team match point and a UCI attacking error tied up the match at 2-2 and sent it to a fifth set.

UCI jumped ahead quickly in the fifth and final set but the Lopes answered with a 3-0 run that was capped off by a service ace from outside hitter Camden Gianni. The Lopes continued to find success on offense hitting .474 in the set and a trio of kills from Janke, Hickman and freshman middle blocker Cameron Throne gave GCU the lead at 10-9. Thorne finished with a career-high eight kills, four digs and five blocks in the match.

Tied up at 12-12 Wardlow and Slight combined for a crucial block to put GCU up 13-12. The next rally featured multiple digs by GCU freshman libero Jordan Lucas to keep the play alive and Janke converted on the third attacking attempt by the Lopes to get to match point. In the final rally Wardlow and Slight connected on two slide attacks and Wardlow finished the second attack to end the match.

The Lopes will enjoy the next six days off before facing off against Arizona Christian on Feb. 10 in the final match before MPSF play begins.