Offense surges in 3-0 sweep

Friday, March 10

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

18-1,5-1MPSF

Olivet Nazarene

3-1

Olivet Nazarene

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

3/10/2023 10:17:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Lopes hit .561 and 13 players record kill in the shutout

By: Jerob Moon

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball kept their winning ways going with a 3-0 sweep over Olivet Nazarene on Friday night at GCU Arena.

The GCU (18-1) offense was nearly unstoppable as the Lopes hit at a .561 clip, the second-highest mark in program history, with only six attacking errors in three sets. It was an all-around team effort as 15 players saw the court and 13 of them recorded a kill.

GCU started the match with a 25-19 win in the first set. The Lopes hit .550 with 13 kills in the set while limiting Olivet Nazarene (15-5) to just nine kills. Redshirt senior Christian Janke made the most of his lone set of the night leading the team with four kills. Redshirt sophomore Nic Slight spread his 10 assists to six different players while collecting three digs. The set was close for most of the way but a key 3-0 GCU run put the Lopes up 19-16 late. GCU would go on to close out the set on a 6-2 to win 25-19.

Head coach Matt Werle turned to his bench in the second set which the Lopes dominated winning 25-14. GCU had just one attacking error in the set on 20 attempts hitting .600. Redshirt sophomore Karter Rogers came off the bench hot collecting five kills on six attempts. Freshman setter Jaxon Herr replaced Slight and guided the offense with 11 assists. Leading 12-9 the Lopes went on a 9-2 extended run to pull away 21-11. Senior middle blocker Colin Lovejoy ended the set with his second kill of the match.

The third set was all GCU in a 25-20 win. Senior outside hitter Grayson Browning saw his first action and led the team with five kills in the set as the Lopes went on to hit .538. Herr collected 15 of his team-high 26 assists in the set and libero Jordan Lucas moved to outside hitter and collected four kills on five attacks. The Lopes took the lead with a 4-0 run after trailing 16-15 and never gave it back. Lucas and Browning collected back-to-back kills to end the match.

The Lopes will host Princeton for the final nonconference matches next week on March 15 and 17 at GCU Arena.