Lopes advance to MPSF semis with sweep

Wednesday, April 19

Stanford, Calif.

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

22-6,6-6MPSF

Pepperdine

16-14,5-7MPSF

Pepperdine

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Stanford University

4/19/2023 11:55:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU hits .386 with 10 blocks to beat Pepperdine, set up rematch vs. UCLA

By: Jerob Moon

STANFORD, Calif. – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team couldn't have asked for a better start to the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship with a 3-0 sweep over Pepperdine in the tournament's first round Wednesday night.

The fourth-seeded Lopes (22-6) dominated on offense, hitting .382 with just nine errors on 68 swings. The strong offensive showing paired with a service game that featured a match-high six aces to keep the Waves (16-14) off-balance and allow GCU to take early control early. The Lopes advance to today's MPSF semifinals, where they will play No. 1 seed UCLA (27-2) at 4:30 p.m. (Phoenix time) in Maples Pavilion.

"I think the bye week came at a really good time for us," GCU head coach Matt Werle said after his team's first match in 11 days. "We actually had three solid weeks of practice and then didn't seem to execute on the court to our capability. Tonight, we were locked in, we reset our minds, and we executed the scout really well. I think the biggest thing for us was we kept applying pressure from the service line and that didn't let them off the hook. It showed and got under their skin a little bit and frustrated them to a point. I'm proud of the guys."

The Lopes and Waves each had six aces, but three fewer service errors by GCU allowed it to dictate the pace of play that kept the Pepperdine attack off-balance. That played into 10 total blocks collected by the Lopes at the net. Sophomore setter Nicholas Slight and junior middle blocker Rico Wardlow led the way with five block assists each, and GCU limited MPSF Player of the Year Jaylen Jasper to just 12 kills and a .143 hitting mark.

"I liked how we stayed consistent regardless of what the score was," Wardlow said. "We just executed our game plan really well and kept the communication up all game. I think what we've been working on all year it trying to get that level of consistency and we had that tonight which I was happy about."

With the win, the Lopes picked up their second MPSF postseason win in program history.

GCU, ranked sixth nationally, jumped out of the gate with a .417 hitting clip and three aces in a 25-22 first-set win. In the closest of the three sets, GCU used a key 5-1 run to pull ahead 15-12, thanks to four combined kills from Wardlow and junior outside hitter Camden Gianni, who led the team with 10 in the match.

The Waves were able to tie the match at 20-20, but the Lopes closed out the set on a 5-2 run. Senior outside hitter Christian Janke had his first ace of the night and freshman middle blocker Cameron Thorne and junior outside hitter Jackson Hickman combined for a block to clinch the set.

That close first set proceeded into a dominant second set by the Lopes, who led wire to wire in a 25-17 win. GCU scored the first six points of the frame and pushed the lead to double digits later with .471 hitting while the Waves hit just .071. Gianni led the way with four kills on six errorless swings.

The Lopes closed out the match with a 25-20 third set win on the strength of stingy defense at the net, where they collected seven blocks and held Pepperdine to under .100 hitting for the second straight set. Tied at 11-11, GCU went on an 8-1 run to pull ahead for good, collecting four kills and an ace and a block in the run. Wardlow was 4 for 4 in attacking chances in the set while Slight had four block assists.

"Our culture has been a big thing this season," Slight added. "Every single person has bought in every single day from guy 1 through 15 here and then 15 through 25 back home. It's awesome to see everyone bought in, and that leads to more success."

The Lopes now have a rematch with the No. 1 Bruins on Thursday. GCU will look for revenge after two home losses in the regular season while trying to punch their ticket to the championship match for the first time. The Lopes became the first MPSF team to win a set against the Bruins in the March 31 meeting.

"We want to play against the best," Werle said. "We want to try and beat the best. If you want to win a national championship, you have to go through a team like that."

First serve from Maples Pavilion will be at 4:30 p.m., and the match will be streamed live on FloVolleyball.