Final Four match gives GCU 2nd chance at Long Beach State

Thursday, May 2 \| 6:30 p.m. \| NCAA semifinal \| Walter Pyramid \| Long Beach, Calif.

	#3 GRAND CANYON LOPES (26-4)	vs.	#1 LONG BEACH STATE BEACH (26-2)

WATCH/STATS: NCAA.com

LONG BEACH, Calif. – After a missed swing, Camden Gianni, Jackson Hickman or Jarrett Anderson are not likely to miss the next one.

When one set is off, Nicholas Slight's next one will be bull's-eye accurate.

If an attack gets by Rico Wardlow and Cameron Thorne at the net or Cooper Herndon to the floor, the next one does not have as much of a chance.

Jackson Hickman

Now as a team, Grand Canyon men's volleyball gets a second chance. A year to the date of losing to Long Beach State at last year's NCAA tournament, the Lopes and the Beach will meet at 6;30 p.m. Thursday in an NCAA tournament semifinal at Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid.

"I personally have thought about it a lot," said GCU senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman, who had 13 kills in the four-set loss in Virginia. "I've watched it a couple times, definitely. Right after, I stayed on the court a little bit. I used it as motivation to get back in the gym last summer."

After the Lopes let a 21-21, fourth-set tie slip away into the decisive 25-23 closeout, Hickman said, "We have a new hump to get over. This is where we going to be."

GCU (26-4) climbed back, taking a No. 3 national ranking, into the challenge of being the first team to beat No. 1 Long Beach State (26-2) in its unique home setting. The Beach is 18-0 at home this season with a 26-match home winning streak.

"We are expecting a crazy environment, which we're comfortable in front of," Lopes head coach Matt Werle said. "Starting on that side right in front of their student body is going to be pretty entertaining for our guys. They like to thrive in that environment, and we should be comfortable going into it, but we're going to have to play a good game. I think it's going to be a good fight."

Most of the principal players in last year's meeting remain at the forefront of opponents who were the only programs to put three players on All-America first team and one on All-America second team this season.

Long Beach State tallied 21 blocks in that match, including 13 in the momentum-changing second set of a 22-25, 25-17, 25-22, 25-23 victory. The Beach is still that team, leading the nation with 3.23 blocks per set and the national blocks leader in 6-foot-10 senior middle blocker Simon Torwie, who recorded eight blocks against the Lopes last year and averages a nation-best 1.37 blocks per set this season.

NCAA tournament practice

"They run some tempo and they've got a lot of good arms and guys," said 6-foot-5 outside hitter Clarke Godbold, who had 13 kills and five blocks against GCU. "We're going to have to use our system to combat that, but it's just going to come down to whoever plays better volleyball consistency-wise."

Godbold was joined on All-America first team by three-time, first-team choice Mason Briggs, a senior libero, and Sotiris Siapanis, a 6-foot-3 junior outside hitter who had 12 kills in last year's win against GCU. This time, the Beach has a home-court advantage that drew 2,211 fans per game (third best nationally) for regular-season matches.

"I really like picking up the energy from the fans and taking that energy and then myself putting it back on the team," Siapanis said. "It's going to be a good combination of us being excited playing in the Final Four and then having our fans give us that little extra boost. It's going to be good for us."

What will be different in the Lopes' favor is the addition of graduate opposite Jarrett Anderson, a powerful 6-foot-5 opposite who transferred from Division III Springfield last summer.

When GCU came to a fall event at Long Beach State, the Lopes tinkered with a lineup starting Anderson but did not break it out until March for a midseason reboot. Anderson is averaging 11.3 kills per match in the past seven contests.

"It was just a matter of timing more than anything," Werle said. "Jarrett has been the most humble, not asking, 'Hey, why am I not on the court?' Because he was very deserving of being on the court. He waited his time, waited his time and he's been such a stud for us."

The Lopes knocked off the nation's top-ranked team, then-No. 1 UCLA, to win the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championship and get another chance to do it against Long Beach State while UCLA faces UC Irvine in the other semifinal.

The winners meet for a 2 p.m. Saturday national championship match at ESPN2. Long Beach State will be pursuing its third national championship after winning back-to-back titles in 2018 and 2019.

Long Beach, CA April 30, 2024 :GCU beats Ohio State 3-0 in their quarterfinal of the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship.in Long Beach. David Kadlubowski/GCU

Long Beach, CA April 30, 2024 :GCU beats Ohio State 3-0 in their quarterfinal of the 2024 NCAA Volleyball Championship.in Long Beach. David Kadlubowski/GCU

"It's important to remember to take a deep breath and just enjoy the moment," Anderson said. "It's going to be a crazy environment, so try your best to soak it and do what we do."

GCU is confident in its offense to produce consistent pressure if it limits errors. That makes Werle believe that the Lopes' key lies in how they handle the Beach's pressure from the service line.

"We know they're going to bring some heat," Werle said. "They're going to put some pressure on our seams. On this stage, they're going to be very comfortable at home.

"I think it's just really going to come down to serve and pass because I think both teams are very, very comparable."

The Lopes reached the semifinal by sweeping Ohio State but believe they have now settled to the Pyramid's unique backdrop, which has a vast ceiling that peaks at 18 stories high.

GCU's first NCAA tournament win was celebrated but more for keeping national championship hopes alive than making program history.

"It's pretty special,' Hickman said. "To see the program Coach has built, to be a part of it is an honor. To see the crowd when we win and, then we look up, the crowd is in purple and everybody is going crazy. It was like they had just won the game with us. It's special. It won't hit me until this summer, but it's bigger than a lot of us – this whole thing."

Final Four match gives GCU 2nd chance at Long Beach State

Thursday, May 2 | 6:30 p.m. | NCAA semifinal | Walter Pyramid | Long Beach, Calif.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jarrett Anderson

Camden Gianni

Cooper Herndon

Jackson Hickman

Nicholas Slight

Cameron Thorne

Rico Wardlow

Grand Canyon University Athletics

Final Four match gives GCU 2nd chance at Long Beach State

Thursday, May 2 | 6:30 p.m. | NCAA semifinal | Walter Pyramid | Long Beach, Calif.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jarrett Anderson

Camden Gianni

Cooper Herndon

Jackson Hickman

Nicholas Slight

Cameron Thorne

Rico Wardlow

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