Lopes head to California for matches with No. 12 and No. 1


No. 8 Grand Canyon Lopes (9-1)	vs	No. 12 CSUN (10-2)	No. 1 Long Beach State (11-0)
		Wednesday, Feb. 19 7 p.m. at Premier America Credit Union Arena	Friday, Feb. 1 8 p.m. at Walter Pyramid

The eighth-ranked Grand Canyon men's volleyball team is set for a trip to California to face two Big West squads ranking in the top-15. The Lopes will take on CSUN Wednesday at 7 p.m. before taking on Long Beach State Friday at 8 p.m. in the Walter Pyramid.

Both matches will be streamed live on ESPN+.

3 THINGS TO KNOW

RETURN OF JARRETT: When opposite Jarrett Anderson entered off the bench Friday against UCSD, the Lopes trailed 18-16 before closing the set on a 9-2 run with six consecutive points stemming from Anderson at the service line for a set win of 25-20 and a 2-0 match lead. Saturday's match saw Anderson start just his third of the season after beginning the year banged up. The graduate student went for 19 kills on a clip of .474. Anderson also added seven digs in the electrifying five-set victory. Anderson had a .396 hitting percentage with two service aces on the weekend to earn Mountain Pacific Sports Federation offensive player of the week.
250 WINS: After two wins at home against UC San Diego, the Lopes currently sit at 249 wins as a team, with this week providing the first opportunities to reach 250.
HISTORY: The Lopes have played CSUN three times, winning the most recent matches in 2024 and 2019. GCU last faced Long Beach State in the 2024 NCAA semifinal in a five-set loss.

SCOUTING

CSUN is led by Donavan Constable, Stilian Delibosov and Jalen Phillips. Constable ranks third nationally in aces per set with 0.674. Delibosov ranks first nationally with 1.405 blocks per set. Phillips is averaging 4.53 kills per set ranking second in the NCAA. Long Beach is led by setter Moni Nikolov and outzide hitter Sotiris Siapanis. Nikolovis first in the country ince aces per set with 1.081 along with 9.51 assists per set, ranking 21st. Siapanis comes in at ninth in hitting percentage with 0.413.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Lopes will open up MPSF play at Pepperdine Feb. 27 and 28. The MPSF Championship will also be played there in April.