Lopes fall to Bruins in home finale

Saturday, April 1

Phoenix, Ariz.

4 p.m.

Grand Canyon

21-4,6-4MPSF

UCLA

23-2,8-0MPSF

UCLA

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Skyler Coblentz

4/1/2023 6:39:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU honors 5 seniors in final home match

By: Jerob Moon

The No. 5 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team wrapped up its home schedule with a 3-0 loss to No. 2 UCLA at GCU Arena on Saturday night.

The Lopes (21-4, 6-4 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) battled the Bruins (23-2, 8-0 MPSF) in a 30-28 first set, but a strong UCLA defense interrupted the GCU offense as the Lopes hit just .264 in their first shutout loss of the season.

Before the match got underway, the Lopes honored five seniors in their final home match. Christian Janke, Grayson Browning, Cole Udall, Jacob Gueber and Colin Lovejoy have combined for more than 1,400 kills in 108 combined appearances over the last five seasons.

In the first set, the Lopes fell behind 6-3 but mustered a 5-0 run to jump ahead 8-6. Both teams traded blows as the set featured 17 ties and six lead changes. Facing two UCLA set points at 24-22, the Lopes forced extra points with a 3-0 run that was led by Janke and Lovejoy. A kill from junior middle blocker Rico Wardlow closed the gap to one before the GCU senior duo put the Lopes in the lead with back-to-back kills.

In extra points, the Lopes had their chances to close it out with set points at 26-25 and 27-26 but UCLA scored four of the final five points to take the first set.

After the close first set, the Lopes were unable to gain ground in the second set, losing 25-21. UCLA jumped ahead with a 5-2 lead and never gave it back despite GCU closing the gap to 16-15, thanks to a block and kill by Janke in back-to-back rallies. Wardlow cut the lead to 22-20 with his sixth kill of the match, but UCLA closed out the set on a 3-1 run to even the match.

UCLA closed out a 25-19 win in the third set, when the Lopes offense struggled with .161 hitting on 31 attacks. Junior outside hitter Camden Gianni collected four kills in the set as part of his team-leading 11 kills for the match.

The Lopes will hit the road next week to close out the regular season at Stanford on Friday and Saturday.