Hickman, Slight lead Lopes to 7th win

Wednesday, January 31

North Andover, Mass.

5 p.m.

Grand Canyon

7-0,0-0MPSF

Merrimack

1-4,0-0NEC

Grand Canyon

Merrimack

Photo by: Wesley Kurz

1/31/2024 7:45:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

No. 2 Lopes stay undefeated by opening East Coast trip with 3-1 win

By: Jerob Moon

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team began a three-match East Coast road trip with a 3-1 win over Merrimack on Wednesday night.

The No. 2-ranked Lopes (7-0) hit over .300 for the sixth consecutive match while 10 players saw the court in an all-around team win. Senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman led the GCU attack with a season-high 15 kills while junior setter Nicholas Slight collected a career-high 15 digs and added 32 assists.

The Lopes came out strong with a 25-18 first-set win. GCU outhit Merrimack (1-4) .458 to .111 and was led by Hickman's six kills. The Phoenix native had just one attacking error in the frame, finishing with a .714 attacking percentage. Mixing up his passes, Slight found four other Lopes for kills in the set. GCU used an 83% sideout percentage and a .929 reception percentage to control the run of play.

The second set was more of the same in a 25-17 win. Merrimack scored the first three points of the set, but that lead was quickly erased with a 5-0 GCU run. The Lopes held the lead the rest of the set as the defense came to life with five blocks. Hickman was again the primary attacking option with six kills on 12 attacks. Both teams dealt with a low roof that was a consistent obstacle for both teams and Merrimack struggled with just seven kills and nine errors.

With GCU up 2-0, Merrimack answered back with a 25-23 third-set win. The Lopes turned to their bench with graduate opposite Jarrett Anderson and sophomore outside hitter Jordan Lucas moving into the lineup. Anderson, a four-time Division III All-American at Springfield, collected his first two GCU kills in the set while Lucas added a pair of kills on seven swings.

Midway through the third set, the Lopes were in control, leading 13-8, before the Warriors played their best volleyball of the night with an 11-2 run to lead 19-15. An ensuing 4-1 GCU run tied up the match at 20-20 with a Wardlow service ace. The teams traded points to get to 23-23. Merrimack's Logan Whitaker finished off the set with two of his 16 kills on the night.

The Lopes regained their composure and finished off the match in the fourth set with a 25-17 win. Lucas found his rhythm collecting four kills on four swings to finish with a career-high six kills. GCU hit .316 in the set and grabbed the lead at 9-8 and held it to the end. Gianni added three kills and an ace in the set while freshman libero Matthew Thornton came off the bench and finished with a 1.000 reception percentage.

GCU will continue its cross-country trip with matches against Harvard and Daemen on Friday and Saturday in Cambridge, Massachusetts.