Lopes to build from loss at No. 1 Long Beach State

Friday, February 21

Long Beach, Calif.

8 p.m.

Grand Canyon

9-3,0-0MPSF

Long Beach State

12-0,0-0Big West

Grand Canyon

Long Beach St.

Photo by: Nathan Peters

2/21/2025 11:10:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

GCU's Anderson delivers 11 kills on .435 clip Friday night

By: Nathan Peters

LONG BEACH, Calif – The No. 8 Grand Canyon men's volleyball team lost Friday night to No. 1 Long Beach State 25-18, 27-25, 25-18 at Walter Pyramid.

The Lopes (9-3) were victims of a Long Beach State offense that manufactured 49 kills in the rematch of a 2024 NCAA tournament semifinal.

"I think you never are satisfied when you lose a match, but when you're playing the No. 1 team in the country, you start to look for different aspects of what success means," GCU coach Bryan Dell'Amico said. "Wednesday (against CSUN), I didn't think we were locked in and played well, I thought the competitiveness was better tonight, and we showed that we belong in the gym in that conversation."

The Lopes had many positive moments against the undefeated Beach.

GCU opposite Jarrett Anderson landed 11 kills on .435 hitting, leading the Lopes offensively.

The match had a high-energy environment in front of 2,450 fans. The Lopes were tied at 13-13 after an assisted block from freshman middle blocker Braedon Marquardt and junior setter Jaxon Herr.

From that moment, Long Beach State had control of the set with a 3-0 run giving some space to eventually win 25-18.

The second set provided a thrilling ending after GCU clawed back from a 23-18 deficit to bring the match to 23-22.

The Lopes then fought off three set points, with the climax coming from junior outside hitter Trent Moser's solo stuff.

Long Beach State outside hitter Sotiris Siapanis capped off the second set with a service ace.

"We have to start executing the little things more," Dell'Amico said. "The little things matter, especially early in matches, and I feel like we keep getting down early because we're not locked in and making the simple plays. So we're chasing the game a lot. If we can correct that and get off to better starts, we can start to play a little more relaxed and put more pressure on the other team."

For the first time this season, the Lopes started the freshman middle blocker duo of Trevell Jordan and Marquardt together with Moser playing on the outside along with senior Karter Rogers.

"Depth is one of our strengths, and our practice gym every day is a competitive environment of evaluation," Dell'Amico said. "We want them to own that, that we're evaluating you every day in practice because we trust everyone there can play if their number is called."

After the first two sets, the Lopes looked for changes with senior middle blocker Cole Duncanson entering with junior outside hitter Cole Ottmar.

"Now, it's about who's earning it every week and we're challenging them right now," Dell'Amico said. "Whoever is earning it and doing what we need them to do in the practice gym is going to get their opportunities in the games."

Herr found Duncanson for a kill early in the third set. Both substitutes made strong efforts, but Long Beach State ultimately went on a 6-1 run to set up a match point and the 25-18 closing win.

Despite the loss, the Lopes had their fewest service errors in a match this season with seven.

GCU will open Mountain Pacific Sports Federation play on Thursday and next Friday at No. 11 Pepperdine, where the MPSF Championship will be played in April.