Lopes hand Gauchos 1st loss in 5-set thriller

Saturday, January 25

Phoenix, Ariz.

7 p.m.

Grand Canyon

5-1,0-0MPSF

UC Santa Barbara

5-1,0-0Big West

UC Santa Barbara

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Nate Cochran

1/25/2025 10:47:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Career highs from Rogers, Ottmar and Herr lead GCU bounce-back match

By: Nathan Peters

The No. 10 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team closed the weekend with a thrilling five-set victory against No. 16 UC Santa Barbara on Saturday night at Global Credit Union Arena.

The Lopes (5-1) got off to a hot start after struggling in Friday night's home loss to the Gauchos. The offense found its rhythm early, hitting .500 as a team in the opening-set win.

Friday's loss included many untouched runs by UC Santa Barbara. Saturday's first set reversed roles with an 8-0 GCU run to put the Lopes ahead 21-8. Two kills by graduate outside hitter Karter Rogers made way for a set point that the Lopes won off a UCSB error.

Rogers tied his career high with 13 kills, playing a crucial role offensively and as a tone setter with effort.

"We keep talking about how defense can be contagious, and it leads to a lot of really good things," Lopes head coach Matt Werle said. "The point that stands out to me was Karter falling over our bench. I don't think we won that point, but we won things after that just because of how much that hustle can lead to things."

Rogers also tallied 14 digs and two service aces.

"Karter went on some great runs for us that just pushed us away and we sustained those leads when we needed to," Werle said of the service pressure Rogers provided.

The second set began with an early UCSB lead, behind the return of Geste Bianchi, a senior opposite who finished the night with 22 kills after not playing Friday. The Lopes managed a 10-3 run with kills coming from junior opposite Trent Moser, junior outside hitter Cole Ottmar and Rogers.

Ottmar finished with a career-high 17 kills on 36 attempts to go with five assisted blocks and four digs.

The second set remained back and forth until junior setter Jaxon Herr dumped a kill to claim it 27-25 for a 2-0 match lead

Herr set a career high with 43 assists and added six digs and three kills.

"Santa Barbara played an amazing match (Friday)," Werle said. "They took us out of our match, and we just were not ready to compete. It is just a matter of our guys being bought into doing the little things. We know we could be physical, we know we can go rip some aces and block some balls and bounce some balls, but if we're going to buy in defensively, then we are going to be pretty good."

The Gauchos took their turn at a run late in the third set, when a 6-0 run turned the tide to lead 21-17. The Lopes fought back but eventually UCSB clinched the set 25-19 to tighten GCU's match lead to 2-1.

The fourth set brought Moser to the stage. The Gilbert native turned up the intensity, landing seven of his 15 kills.

UCSB found a Bianchi kill and back-to-back service aces from outside hitter Ben Coordt to take a 23-21 lead. A Gauchos kill and Lopes blocking error knotted the match at two sets apiece.

The fifth set marked a first for both squads this season.

The Lopes began trailing 3-2, before a 4-0 run changed the match trajectory. A large part of the run was freshman middle blocker Braedon Marquardt's service pressure.

A Moser kill gave GCU an 8-4 lead at the side switch. The starting opposite then landed a massive service ace to grow the lead to five.

A Rogers kill set the opportunity for Moser to seal the match 15-9.

The Lopes totaled 54 kills and 42 digs in the 3-2 victory.

Next, GCU will head to Reno, Nevada, for the Silver State Showdown, a boys volleyball event featuring matches with four 2024 NCAA tournament teams. GCU will face Belmont Abbey on Friday and Fort Valley State next Saturday.

"We're excited," Werle said. "It's cool to have that showcase out there. It is going to be a different environment for us with random spectators, a lot of distracting pieces, so I'm curious how our guys are going to respond to those things. We have to make sure that we keep these guys really locked in. It's just another challenge for us. Both those teams are going to be competitive and have very different styles of play, so we're going to see how we can switch gears from one night to the next."