Team effort claims sweep in 1st night at CUI

Thursday, March 21

Irvine, Calif.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

19-2,7-0MPSF

Concordia Irvine

6-11,0-5MPSF

Grand Canyon

CUI

Photo by: Jack Gilday

3/21/2024 10:04:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU's Gianni reaches milestone with 200th service ace

By: Nathan Peters

IRVINE, Calif. – The No. 5 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team returned to Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play with a 3-0 sweep at Concordia Irvine on Friday night.

The Lopes (19-2, 7-0 MPSF) entered the match against Concordia (6-11, 0-5 MPSF) having won five of the latest seven meetings, dating back to 2021. The Lopes added a win to that run with 49 kills, their second most in three-set matches this season.

Early in the first set, GCU went on a 7-3 run to grab a 20-14 lead.

Lopes senior opposite Camden Gianni led the team in kills, landing 15. Midway through the second set, Gianni added to his GCU record for career aces when he reached the 200-ace milestone. The Carlsbad, California, native is only the third player in MPSF history to reach the mark.

The Lopes had six aces, four of which came from senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman. After a dominant first-set victory of 25-16, Hickman helped GCU command the start of the second set with back-to-back service aces.

Lopes sophomore middle blocker Cameron Thorne continued his streak of strong play with a match-high five blocks.

GCU's most dominating set regarding kills came during the second set with a match-high 19 and a score of 25-16.

The Lopes followed suit from the first set with a 7-2 run early in the third set to snag a 12-5 lead, thanks to three kills from senior middle blocker Rico Wardlow and two by sophomore outside hitter Jordan Lucas.

Wardlow, a senior from Bolingbrook, Illinois, finished with perfect hitting on 10 attempts. This marked the eighth perfect hitting match in MPSF history (with at least 10 kills), and the first in an MPSF match since 2008.

GCU setter Nicholas Slight continued distributing the offensive effectively with 38 assists, matching the junior's second most in a three-set match this season.

The Lopes finished with 62.5 points, a season high for three-set matches.

GCU and Concordia will meet again Friday in Irvine at 7 p.m.