Hickman, Gianni lead Lopes to sweep

Friday, January 5

Santa Barbara, Calif.

3 p.m.

Grand Canyon

2-0,0-0MPSF

UC San Diego

1-1,0-0Big West

Grand Canyon

UC San Diego

Photo by: Jeff Liang

1/5/2024 5:35:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU seniors combine for 18 kills, 5 services aces in 3-0 win

By: Jerob Moon

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The No. 7 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team continued its hot start to the season with a 3-0 sweep over UC San Diego on Friday night.

In the first of two matchups between the two programs in the span of 14 days, the Lopes (2-0) outhit the Tritons (1-1) .324 to .165. Senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman led the way for GCU with 11 kills while senior Camden Gianni controlled the service game with five aces.

The GCU offense came out strong at a .400 hitting clip in a 25-19 first-set win. The Lopes collected 13 kills to only three attacking errors in a set that featured 11 ties and seven lead changes. Midway through the set with the score tied at 12-12, the Lopes went on an extended 7-3 run that gave them the lead through the rest of the set.

GCU worked from the middle of the net and out with middle blockers Rico Wardlow and Cameron Throne and Gianni all collecting kills in the run. A final 7-2 run closed out the first frame for the Lopes.

The second set was just as competitive with the Lopes winning in extra points 26-24. GCU jumped out to a 6-2 lead but UCSD responded with its 6-2 run to grab a 17-16 lead. Neither team held a lead of more than two points the rest of the set.

A Hickman kill gave GCU set point at 24-23, but the Tritons' Matthew Lim responded with one of his team-high nine kills to tie the score. GCU went on to take the final two points on a Gianni kill and a solo block from Wardlow, one of his team-high three on the night.

Up 2-0, the GCU offense kicked into high gear, closing out the match with a 25-16 set win. The Lopes jumped out to a 12-4 lead thanks in part to three straight aces and two kills from Gianni. GCU led comfortably the rest of the set with UCSD never getting within less than seven points.

Hickman closed out the match with four kills and leads the Lopes with 20 so far this season on .452 hitting. The Phoenix native led the team with 319 kills last season.

The Lopes will face No. 15 UC Santa Barbara, the host of the Asics Invitational, on Saturday at 8 p.m. (Phoenix time). The match will be streamed live on ESPN+.