Grand Canyon University Athletics
Photo by: Skyler Coblentz
MPSF Championship begins with Pepperdine
4/18/2023 8:18:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
No. 4 seed Lopes face No. 5 seed Waves in 1st round
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| No. 4 Grand Canyon Lopes (21-6, 6-4 MPSF) |
vs. | No. 5 Pepperdine Waves (16-13, 5-7 MPSF) |
| Wednesday April 19 8 p.m. Maples Pavilion, Stanford, Calif. |
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| Match Notes | Live Stats Live Video |
The match will be streamed live on FloVolleyball, which requires a subscription fee.
3 THINGS TO KNOW
- ALL-MPSF HONORS: The Lopes had a program-high five players earn All-MPSF honors on Tuesday. Senior Christian Janke and junior middle blocker Rico Wardlow landed on the All-MPSF second team while junior Jackson Hickman and sophomore setter Nicholas Slight were named honorable mentions. Middle blocker Cameron Thorne was the fifth Lopes to earn postseason honors landed on the All-Freshman team.
- SERIES SPLIT: If Wednesday's match is as close as the season series between GCU and Pepperdine, fans will be in for a treat. Both matches in Malibu, California, went to five sets with GCU winning the opener on Feb. 22 before Pepperdine prevailed on Feb. 24 to hand the Lopes their first loss of the season. Pepperdine edged GCU with 148 to 141 points while the Lopes held an edge in hitting percentage (.362) and blocks (22).
- TOURNAMENT HISTORY: The Lopes are 1-4 all-time in the MPSF Championship with the lone win coming in four sets over fifth-seeded USC in 2019. This will be the first meeting between GCU and Pepperdine in postseason play. The Wave went on a run last season as the No. 3 seed winning the tournament to advance to the NCAA Tournament.
SCOUTING
Pepperdine had three starters earn All-MPSF honors , including graduate opposite Jaylen Jasper being named MPSF Player of the Year. Jasper was joined by setter Bryce Dvorak, who landed on the second team, and Akin Akinwumi, who was named to an honorable mention. Jasper is the main offensive weapon for the Waves as he has accounted for 37% of the team's kills.
WHAT'S NEXT?
- With a win, the Lopeswould advance to the second round on Thursday.
For more GCU men's volleyball news, notes and numbers, click here to view the match notes.
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Volleyball"We come to play every single day..."
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