Experience readies Lopes for return trip to NCAAs

Tuesday, April 30 \| 7:30 p.m. \| NCAA quarterfinal \| Walter Pyramid \| Long Beach, Calif.

	(3) GRAND CANYON LOPES (25-4)	vs.	(6) OHIO STATE BUCKEYES (22-8)

WATCH/STATS: NCAA.com

LONG BEACH, Calif. – Two weeks ago, the Grand Canyon men's volleyball team came to Los Angeles in need of three wins to raise the tournament trophy.

Here they are again in Greater Los Angeles with three wins to glory. But instead of two of those opponents being top-10 teams for a conference title, there likely will be three top-10 foes with the prize now being a national championship.

Buoyed by knocking off No. 1 and defending national champion UCLA on April 20, GCU returns to the NCAA tournament as a contender rather than a novelty. The Lopes, the No. 3 seed, begin their quest Tuesday night with a quarterfinal against Ohio State, the No. 6 seed, at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.

"We're definitely proud and very excited," GCU ninth-year head coach Matt Werle said. "Last year was such a thrill to be in the (NCAA) tournament for the first time that emotions were different. I think they're going to be in a little bit more controlled this year. We've been there before, and we have some seniors that are really stepping up right now."

The Lopes (25-4) have topped the program single-season record for wins by three for the second consecutive season. Last year's breakthrough team lost its four-set NCAA tournament debut to Long Beach State after winning the first set and having the fourth set tied at 21-21.

This season's team returned most of that squad's core and won its first 15 matches. It enters this week off the momentum of a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship title that included beating No. 7 Stanford for the third time this season and toppling UCLA in a five-set thriller.

"At this time last year, I was mesmerized and excited for the opportunity," said GCU senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman, who was named to the All-America second team for second consecutive year. "I'm still very much that, but more like we have business to do.

"It's a different type of confidence. We're still the same team, but we know how to carry ourselves in any different type of situation because we know now that we can play with anybody."

Hickman led GCU with 13 kills in last year's NCAA tournament appearance and also had a team-best 16 kills when GCU defeated Ohio State in five sets early last season in Virginia.

The Buckeyes (22-8) will counter the Lopes' .347 hitting, fourth best in the nation, with a 10th-ranked attack led by 6-foot-4 senior Jacob Pasteur, the 2023 Karch Kiraly Award winner as the nation's top outside hitter.

"We could not be more comparable in terms of personnel, talent, talking a little bit through the net," Werle said.

The service line is where the Lopes can change matches, although Pasteur ranks fifth nationally for aces per set right behind fourth-ranked Camden Gianni. The GCU senior opposite delivered four aces in the win against UCLA, a match in which the Lopes had an unprecedented service match with 10 aces and 13 service errors in five sets.

"What we have done from the service line with applying pressure and executing the scouting report is some stuff we didn't do four or five years ago," Werle said. "Now, these guys have really understood the importance of playing our game and not going outside of ourselves. We're going to put ourselves in a position to win."

GCU is a better team than last season because sophomore middle blocker Cameron Thorne and junior setter Nicholas Slight reached All-America first-team status. For Thorne, it was his expanding his role over last season with next-level thinking to be one of the best lateral blockers in the nation at 6 feet 3.

Slight already was GCU's starting setter, but he has moved to third in the nation with 10.5 assists per set.

"I didn't think Nic Slight could get much better than he was last year, and he did," Hickman said. "He got a lot better, and it's super impressive. His accuracy with the ball is second to none. Cam Thorne is obviously the best middle in the country this year. His growth from last year to this year is literally something I've never before. I was just talking to my dad about seeing a sophomore grow that much and be that well-versed in his game."

The Lopes also made a midseason lineup change last month, putting 6-foot-5 opposite Jarrett Anderson into the starting lineup last month. Anderson, a graduate transfer from Division III Springfield, recorded 38 kills in the three conference tournament matches and tallied 19 kills in an earlier five-set loss to UCLA.

A week of practice in Antelope Gymnasium showed what could be expected of a senior-laden Lopes team – competitive fire with a loose, fun attitude.

The Lopes have seen it all, from going to five sets on four occasions (twice against No. 1 seed UCLA) and staving off opponent comebacks from big GCU leads.

They vowed not to see an NCAA tournament exit in their first match again. The GCU-Ohio State winner will be in a 6:30 p.m. national semifinal against the Tuesday late quarterfinal winner of host Long Beach State, the No. 2 seed, and Belmont Abbey, the No. 7 seed.

"Our guys have dealt with another pressure situations last year and this year that we're comfortable in them now," Werle said. "The biggest thing for us is our starts to matches. We're just emphasizing block and defense. Go start flying around. Everything else with our offense and service pressure is going to be good. If you start touching balls with the block and digging balls, you're going to start irritating teams. We know once things start getting under another team's skin, we go on those big runs."

Tuesday, April 30 | 7:30 p.m. | NCAA quarterfinal | Walter Pyramid | Long Beach, Calif.

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Players Mentioned

Jarrett Anderson

Camden Gianni

Jackson Hickman

Nicholas Slight

Cameron Thorne

Grand Canyon University Athletics