Lopes secure 4th straight sweep

Saturday, March 15

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

13-5,2-2MPSF

Concordia Irvine

6-13,0-4MPSF

CUI

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Jayden Todd

3/15/2025 8:13:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

Freshman duo of Oldani, Jordan lead charge offensively

By: Nathan Peters

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team secured another dominant sweep over Concordia Irvine, reaching four straight sweeps.

GCU (13-5) clinched the match with set scores of 25-19, 25-17, and 25-16 on Saturday at Global Credit Union Arena.

The Lopes' offense hit .453 while maintaining control throughout the match with junior setter Jaxon Herr directing the offense for 31 assists and six digs.

The first set was competitive early, featuring four ties before GCU pulled ahead with a strong offensive run. The Lopes registered 15 kills in the set, hitting .520 to take the opener 25-19.

Lopes freshman middle blocker Trevell Jordan ended the night with 10 kills on an impressive .714 hitting percentage while freshman outside hitter Connor Oldani added 12 kills on 524 hitting.

"Connor all season has been playing some really good volleyball but specifically the last two to three weeks he's just been dominant in the practice gym, and we've been looking for opportunities to get him in," GCU coach Bryan Dell'Amico said. "Tonight was that moment for him, and he absolutely rose to the challenge. We were very happy for him. I think one of the things that makes him so good as a freshman is he's fearless. He understands the game, but he's unafraid to go out and compete and take big swings and big moments. I think that's what separating him from most freshman."

GCU maintained momentum in the second set, using a balanced attack and strong blocking to control play. The Lopes' defense held CUI to a .194 hitting percentage while taking the set 25-17.

The final set saw GCU dominate at the net, recording seven total blocks in the match. Jordan and Oldani delivered key kills late, helping GCU close out the match with a 25-16 victory.

Defensively, GCU collected 32 digs, with Herr and senior outside hitter Karter Rogers contributing key plays. The Lopes also applied service pressure, limiting CUI's offense while securing their second sweep of the weekend.

"I think one of the things the last four matches that we've done well is being better in most out-of-system situations," Dell'Amico said. "We have been allowing ourselves some aggressive swings for points versus being tentative, but specifically I think that our serve pressure has been much better."

GCU will return to action next week as it continue its homestand at Global Credit Union Arena against BYU.

"We're going to have top-eight matchups the rest of the season, and we have to create some service pressure to push teams out of system," Dell'Amico said. "Because when we do that, our triple block is coming along and being better and we're able to create more transition opportunities for points for us."