Lopes fall 3-2 in regular-season finale

Saturday, April 8

Stanford, Calif.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

21-6,6-6MPSF

Stanford

13-10,6-4MPSF

Grand Canyon

Stanford

Photo by: Zach Campbell

4/8/2023 9:51:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

No. 6 Lopes await seeding for MPSF Tournament

By: Jerob Moon

STANFORD, Calif. – The No. 6 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team wrapped up the regular season with a 3-2 loss at No. 9 Stanford on Saturday.

The Lopes (21-6, 6-6 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) outhit the Cardinal (13-10, 6-4 MPSF) .381 to .358 and overcame a 2-1 deficit to force a fifth set, but Stanford ended the match on a 4-2 run.

A trio of Lopes had double-digit kills with outside hitters Camden Gianni and Jackson Hickman leading the way with 14 kills each. Hickman hit .522 while senior Christian Janke had 13 kills on a .391 clip.

The first set went to Stanford with a 25-21 win. A theme of the night was the success the Cardinal found with attacking chances in the middle, as they finished with 28 kills with just three attacks. Middle blocker Ethan Hill was 5 for 5 in attacking chances in the first set and finished with a career-high 15 kills. Gianni had five kills to lead the Lopes in the frame.

GCU responded with a 25-23 second-set win, thanks to .400 hitting as a team. Janke and Hickman combined for nine kills as the team found its footing on defense with seven block assists. Down 23-21, the Lopes scored four straight points to steal the set. Thorne started the run and it was finished by a block from Hickman and junior middle blocker Rico Wardlow.

Stanford and GCU traded the third and fourth sets to set up a winner-take-all fifth set. The Cardinal hit .462 in the 25-18 third-set win to go along with three aces. The Lopes responded in the fourth set with their best offensive performance of the weekend, hitting .600 with 14 kills in the 25-22 win. Up 22-18, the Lopes withstood a late 3-1 Stanford run as the set closed out with three straight service errors. Janke had six kills in the set to lead the GCU offense.

The fifth and final set was back and forth through the first half. With the score at 6-6, a 5-0 run put the Cardinal in firm control the rest of the way as the Lopes hit just .267 in the set.

The Lopes finished at 6-6 in MPSF play and will watch how the final matches of the regular season wrap up next week to see where they will stand heading into the MPSF Tournament. The first round will take place at Stanford on April 19.