Completed Event: Men's Volleyball versus #6 BYU on March 21, 2025 , Loss , 1, to, 3
M Volleyball
vs #6 BYU
L 1-3
Grand Canyon University Athletics
Thursday, May 2
Long Beach, Calif.
6:30 p.m.
Grand Canyon
26-5,10-2MPSF
2
vs
3
Long Beach State
27-2,9-1Big West
1
2
3
4
5
F
Grand Canyon
26
28
18
23
10
2
Long Beach St.
24
26
25
25
15
3
Photo by: David Kadlubowski
Final Four 5-setter goes to No. 1 Long Beach State
5/2/2024 8:30:00 PM | Men's Volleyball, Paul Coro
Gianni's 17 kills, Anderson's 16 kills push undefeated home team
LONG BEACH, Calif. – Grand Canyon men's volleyball thrust itself onto the landscape of national powers in recent years, so it was going to take something as overwhelming as a beach's tidal wave to wipe out the Lopes this season.
The greatest GCU season ever nearly hit another level Thursday night when the Lopes took the first two sets against No. 1 Long Beach State, but the Beach remained undefeated in Walter Pyramid this season with an overwhelmingly partial crowd of 3,786 fans turning raucous during a Final Four comeback win.
The Lopes (26-5) tried to dig in at 20-20 in the fourth set and trailing 11-10 in the fifth set, but Long Beach State (27-2) prevailed with a 24-26, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10 reverse sweep to end GCU's NCAA tournament visit exactly a year to the day that it did so last season..
In their final matches at Lopes, the departing core of Camden Gianni, Jackson Hickman, Nicholas Slight and Rico Wardlow gave a performance for what Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe called "a match for the ages." They nearly prevented the Beach from its 27th consecutive home victory, becoming only the second team this season to win two sets at the Pyramid.
"We had the chances to close it out early, and there was one ball that fell after a play that we made that really popped our bubble and we never really recovered from that," Werle said of a ball that dropped to the floor on miscommunication when GCU led 11-8 in the third set. "It's disappointing in that regard, but what these guys have been able to accomplish in their careers with GCU is something they should always hold onto and always be proud of. I'm proud of them. They've paved the way for some of these younger guys. It's disappointing, but we can leave with our heads held high."
The Lopes nearly knocked off a No. 1 team for the second time this season after doing so two weeks ago to win its first conference tournament championship against UCLA, which will play Long Beach State in the national championship match Saturday.
"Everyone always believes that they can win a national championship," Gianni said. "Where this program was when I was a high school senior to where it is now, I would go to battle with this team 10 times out of 10. I've made some amazing relationships with everyone in that locker room. Just the experience of where Werle has put this program is something that I'm forever thankful for and I think everyone in that locker room is as well."
In an intense environment clad in black and gold, the veteran-laded Lopes were not affected when Long Beach State wiped away set points in the first and second sets to win both in extra points.
"We're not one of those big-name schools that originally was coming into the year, but we really tried to show that we belong," Slight said.
In the first set, GCU graduate opposite Jarrett Anderson delivered five kills to set up sophomore middle blocker Cameron Thorrne's big moments, two monster blocks during a 4-1 run that put the Lopes ahead 24-20. But the Beach fought off four consecutive set points despite two GCU timeouts in the stretch.
Thorne again proved clutch, attacking from the middle for two kills off some of Slight's 50 assists, his second highest total of the season, for a 26-24 set win and 1-0 match lead.
After 12 ties in the first set, the second set featured nine more, but the first run of three unanswered points belonged to the Lopes. Slight reversed a set to Anderson for a kill before Wardlow, a middle blocker, teamed with Gianni, an opposite, for a block and Gianni picked up another block solo for a 20-16 lead.
GCU maintained that lead narrowly to another couple of set points at 24-22. Again, Long Beach State responded with three consecutive kills to have its set point at 25-24. A kill by senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman wiped that away and bombs by Wardlow and Gianni stole back set point with his sixth kill of the set. Wardlow put away a 28-26 set win on a block with Slight for the 2-0 match lead.
An anxious Pyramid quieted in the third set with a Wardlow blocking giving GCU a 9-6 lead to prompt a Beach timeout. The crowd and Long Beach State players responded, using a pair of 5-0 runs to reinvigorate the crowd, particularly when the the first of the runs was bookended by the Lopes watching a ball drop and Hickman drewing a yellow card for responding to a Beach block celebration.
"I couldn't hear anything," Long Beach State senior opposite Nathan Harlan said of the Pyramid roar. "I couldn't even hear my own thoughts."
The Lopes normally funnel in-game emotion into inspired play and did make the Beach lead manageable at 18-16, but the second 5-0 run had GCU unraveling with three errors. The 25-18 set began a commanding turnaround by limiting GCU to .115 hitting.
"We didn't handle pressure in the situation that we needed to," Werle said.
Through the first half of the fourth set, the score stayed within a one-point margin or tied until Long Beach State had a three-point run for a 17-14 lead, including an unexpected block from Beach setter Alan Knipe.
Gianni got rolling from the left side to bring GCU back to a 20-20 tie, but a 3-0 Beach run set up Long Beach State to close out the 25-23 set on two Lopes errors and tie the match at 2-2.
The momentum looked like it might get the best of GCU for the fifth set, when the Lopes took a timeout after the Beach's off-speed game helped it take a 6-3 lead. After another timeout in a 10-6 hole, the Lopes emerged with Gianni leading them back on a block with Thorne and a kill through a Beach two-man block to trail 10-9.
Thorne's quick kill to keep the Lopes within one at 11-10 was wiped away with a 4-0 Beach closeout, including a kill off a bump and Long Beach State's seventh ace. GCU did not have an ace in the final four sets after serving two in the first set.
Long Beach State was boosted by a career-high 20 kills from 6-foot-7 sophomore outside hitter Skyler Varga and the 6-foot-10 presence of senior Simon Torwie, who tallied eight block assists and a solo block. Harlan came off the bench to hit .500 for the Beach, which also got 16 kills from junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis.
When the match ended, the Lopes' emotions played out in various ways for three All-Americans' farewell, but Gianni circled with applause over his head toward the Pyramid fans who created a special setting with a bass-pulsating DJ an end-line student section feeding into it.
"They're a handful," Knipe said of GCU. "There's so many athletes on that team. They do some things to really stress you. It created a little bit of a gut check for us."
The Beach crowd had to bring it like it never had this season to stop a determined senior group that carried its feisty personality and banned brotherhood to the end of a five-set Final Four classic.
"Werle's taking chances on us," Slight said. "Without him taking a chance on the kids in the locker room, it doesn't happen without him. Whatever we've done is great, but it all comes back to if you look at the guy at the end of the table (Werle). He's done a great job with us because I'm not the man I am today without him kicking me around a little bit and showing me some ropes. I'm really grateful for that. I think the guys all view that you can become a man at Grand Canyon.
"We love everything that's happened to us, and we wouldn't change it for the world."
The greatest GCU season ever nearly hit another level Thursday night when the Lopes took the first two sets against No. 1 Long Beach State, but the Beach remained undefeated in Walter Pyramid this season with an overwhelmingly partial crowd of 3,786 fans turning raucous during a Final Four comeback win.
The Lopes (26-5) tried to dig in at 20-20 in the fourth set and trailing 11-10 in the fifth set, but Long Beach State (27-2) prevailed with a 24-26, 26-28, 25-18, 25-23, 15-10 reverse sweep to end GCU's NCAA tournament visit exactly a year to the day that it did so last season..In their final matches at Lopes, the departing core of Camden Gianni, Jackson Hickman, Nicholas Slight and Rico Wardlow gave a performance for what Long Beach State head coach Alan Knipe called "a match for the ages." They nearly prevented the Beach from its 27th consecutive home victory, becoming only the second team this season to win two sets at the Pyramid.
"We had the chances to close it out early, and there was one ball that fell after a play that we made that really popped our bubble and we never really recovered from that," Werle said of a ball that dropped to the floor on miscommunication when GCU led 11-8 in the third set. "It's disappointing in that regard, but what these guys have been able to accomplish in their careers with GCU is something they should always hold onto and always be proud of. I'm proud of them. They've paved the way for some of these younger guys. It's disappointing, but we can leave with our heads held high."
The Lopes nearly knocked off a No. 1 team for the second time this season after doing so two weeks ago to win its first conference tournament championship against UCLA, which will play Long Beach State in the national championship match Saturday.
"Everyone always believes that they can win a national championship," Gianni said. "Where this program was when I was a high school senior to where it is now, I would go to battle with this team 10 times out of 10. I've made some amazing relationships with everyone in that locker room. Just the experience of where Werle has put this program is something that I'm forever thankful for and I think everyone in that locker room is as well."In an intense environment clad in black and gold, the veteran-laded Lopes were not affected when Long Beach State wiped away set points in the first and second sets to win both in extra points.
"We're not one of those big-name schools that originally was coming into the year, but we really tried to show that we belong," Slight said.
In the first set, GCU graduate opposite Jarrett Anderson delivered five kills to set up sophomore middle blocker Cameron Thorrne's big moments, two monster blocks during a 4-1 run that put the Lopes ahead 24-20. But the Beach fought off four consecutive set points despite two GCU timeouts in the stretch.
Thorne again proved clutch, attacking from the middle for two kills off some of Slight's 50 assists, his second highest total of the season, for a 26-24 set win and 1-0 match lead.
After 12 ties in the first set, the second set featured nine more, but the first run of three unanswered points belonged to the Lopes. Slight reversed a set to Anderson for a kill before Wardlow, a middle blocker, teamed with Gianni, an opposite, for a block and Gianni picked up another block solo for a 20-16 lead. GCU maintained that lead narrowly to another couple of set points at 24-22. Again, Long Beach State responded with three consecutive kills to have its set point at 25-24. A kill by senior outside hitter Jackson Hickman wiped that away and bombs by Wardlow and Gianni stole back set point with his sixth kill of the set. Wardlow put away a 28-26 set win on a block with Slight for the 2-0 match lead.
An anxious Pyramid quieted in the third set with a Wardlow blocking giving GCU a 9-6 lead to prompt a Beach timeout. The crowd and Long Beach State players responded, using a pair of 5-0 runs to reinvigorate the crowd, particularly when the the first of the runs was bookended by the Lopes watching a ball drop and Hickman drewing a yellow card for responding to a Beach block celebration.
"I couldn't hear anything," Long Beach State senior opposite Nathan Harlan said of the Pyramid roar. "I couldn't even hear my own thoughts."
The Lopes normally funnel in-game emotion into inspired play and did make the Beach lead manageable at 18-16, but the second 5-0 run had GCU unraveling with three errors. The 25-18 set began a commanding turnaround by limiting GCU to .115 hitting."We didn't handle pressure in the situation that we needed to," Werle said.
Through the first half of the fourth set, the score stayed within a one-point margin or tied until Long Beach State had a three-point run for a 17-14 lead, including an unexpected block from Beach setter Alan Knipe.
Gianni got rolling from the left side to bring GCU back to a 20-20 tie, but a 3-0 Beach run set up Long Beach State to close out the 25-23 set on two Lopes errors and tie the match at 2-2.
The momentum looked like it might get the best of GCU for the fifth set, when the Lopes took a timeout after the Beach's off-speed game helped it take a 6-3 lead. After another timeout in a 10-6 hole, the Lopes emerged with Gianni leading them back on a block with Thorne and a kill through a Beach two-man block to trail 10-9.
Thorne's quick kill to keep the Lopes within one at 11-10 was wiped away with a 4-0 Beach closeout, including a kill off a bump and Long Beach State's seventh ace. GCU did not have an ace in the final four sets after serving two in the first set.
Long Beach State was boosted by a career-high 20 kills from 6-foot-7 sophomore outside hitter Skyler Varga and the 6-foot-10 presence of senior Simon Torwie, who tallied eight block assists and a solo block. Harlan came off the bench to hit .500 for the Beach, which also got 16 kills from junior outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis.When the match ended, the Lopes' emotions played out in various ways for three All-Americans' farewell, but Gianni circled with applause over his head toward the Pyramid fans who created a special setting with a bass-pulsating DJ an end-line student section feeding into it.
"They're a handful," Knipe said of GCU. "There's so many athletes on that team. They do some things to really stress you. It created a little bit of a gut check for us."
The Beach crowd had to bring it like it never had this season to stop a determined senior group that carried its feisty personality and banned brotherhood to the end of a five-set Final Four classic.
"Werle's taking chances on us," Slight said. "Without him taking a chance on the kids in the locker room, it doesn't happen without him. Whatever we've done is great, but it all comes back to if you look at the guy at the end of the table (Werle). He's done a great job with us because I'm not the man I am today without him kicking me around a little bit and showing me some ropes. I'm really grateful for that. I think the guys all view that you can become a man at Grand Canyon.
"We love everything that's happened to us, and we wouldn't change it for the world."
Team Stats
GCU
LBSU
Kills
60
66
Errors
24
22
Attempts
135
135
Hitting %
.267
.326
Points
74.0
86.5
Assists
59
61
Aces
2
7
Blocks
12
13.5
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
17
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
1
Kills
11
Aces
2
Blocks
4
Kills
11
Aces
0
Blocks
6
Players Mentioned
Opp
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
OH
/ Men's Volleyball
S
/ Men's Volleyball
MB
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