Lopes take down No. 6 BYU in electric performance

Saturday, March 22

Phoenix, Ariz.

6 p.m.

Grand Canyon

14-6,3-3MPSF

BYU

15-7,3-3MPSF

BYU

Grand Canyon

Photo by: Rachel Sollazzo

3/22/2025 9:02:00 PM | Men's Volleyball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Anderson dishes 6 aces; Ottmar hits .435 in win

By: Nathan Peters

The Grand Canyon men's volleyball team delivered a commanding performance, sweeping No. 6 BYU in straight sets Saturday at Global Credit Union Arena.

GCU (14-6, 3-3 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation) controlled the match from start to finish, securing set wins of 25-16, 25-17, and 25-19 to earn the team's first top-10 win of the season. The Lopes hit an impressive .393 as a team while limiting BYU (15-7, 3-3 MPSF) to a .144 hitting percentage.

Junior outside hitter Cole Ottmar led the GCU offensive charge with 12 kills on .435 hitting.

"Cole started the season for us and then was out of the rotation for a long time, and he's really been working in all phases of the game," Lopes coach Jon Girten said. "Off the court, he has been really making a whole lot of strides. Tonight, he earned this performance over the last month. He's been an awesome teammate and awesome worker. I'm just proud of him."

GCU freshman setter Kyle Zediker ran the offense smoothly, dishing out 31 assists while adding four digs.

"A strength of Kyle has been running the middle of the court, and it's obviously a huge focus for us, because the middle is what opens everything up in this game," Lopes coach Bryan Dell'Amico said. "To be able to run the middle of the court, make the opposing middle have to think about where that ball is going, it just opens everything up and then you can see our pins have the opportunity to go out and score because of what was being done through the middle of the court."

GCU freshman middle blocker Trevell Jordan and junior outside hitter Trent Moser each added seven kills, with Jordan hitting a scorching .538.

"There is a quiet confidence about Kyle," Girten said. "We felt really confident in going to him tonight because he's been steadily improving every day throughout the season."

GCU set the tone early in the first set, utilizing strong serving and disciplined defense to take control. The Lopes hit .400 in the frame while limiting BYU to just 11 kills on .097 hitting. A late serving run, including multiple aces from graduate opposite Jarrett Anderson, sealed the 25-16 victory.

The Lopes carried their momentum into the second set, jumping out to an early lead and never looking back. Ottmar and Jordan powered the attack, combining for nine kills in the set. GCU's defensive presence at the net continued to disrupt BYU's offense, helping secure a 25-17 win.

The third set remained competitive early, but GCU's balanced attack and tough serving proved too much for the Cougars.

The GCU squad trailed 16-8 before a 17-3 run fueled the third-set comeback. The highlight of the match was Anderson dishing four aces in a row before Ottmar added two more.

GCU dominated from the service line, recording 10 aces, including six from Anderson and four from Ottmar.

"Last night, we were two aces on 19 errors and you never expect to get 10 aces on 12 errors at this level, especially against the No. 6 team in the country," Dell'Amico said. "To keep creating pressure on them and to make them have to play, make them have to work to side out. Last night, we just let it be so loose. It's just a different game when you play with pressure. It was a big focal point for us last night, and it was the biggest disappointment but was maybe the biggest strength for us tonight." 

Anderson moves to third on the GCU single-match ace count with only Camden Gianni (2021) and Michael Milstein (2014) having dished the program-record seven aces in a three-set match.

The Lopes will return to action next week as they travel to take on USC on Friday and Saturday.

"I think we finally saw what we're capable of doing," Girten said. "I think Bryan kind of touched on it during scout. We've been talking about how we can play. We've been talking about what we can do, and I think we finally showed it. So I think there is a confidence about how we played tonight that we need to continue to carry it over."