(Los Angeles, CA) The Grand Canyon men’s volleyball team had its season come to an end Wednesday night with a 3-1 loss to No. 5 seed Stanford in the MPSF Championship quarterfinals.
The 10th-ranked Lopes (16-12) struggled to find their offensive rhythm early on and fell behind two sets to none before 13th-ranked Stanford (12-12) closed out the match by scoring the last four points of the fourth set.
Despite the loss, GCU redshirt junior outside hitter Christian Janke made history by becoming the third Lope to reach the 1,000-kill milestone. He led the team with 12 kills in the match.
Stanford was sharp early on and took the first set 25-21. The Cardinal started the match with 11 first-set kills and just three errors while the Lopes hit .192 in the set. Tied at 5-5, Stanford went on a 4-0 run and held that lead the rest of the set. GCU was able to get within two at 19-17, but Stanford closed it out on kills by Nathan Lietzke and Kevin Lamp.
Both offenses struggled in the second set, but Stanford put GCU in a hole and won 25-20. The Cardinal hit .000 but were helped by a -.148 mark from the Lopes due in part to six Stanford blocks. Early in the set, GCU held a 6-3 lead but that was quickly erased. A 12-3 Stanford in the back half of the set flipped the score and the momentum, putting the Cardinal ahead 20-14 to lead to a set win and 2-0 match lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Lopes kept fighting with a 25-22 third-set win to stay in the match. The offense finally clicked as GCU hit .419 with redshirt sophomore outside hitter Camden Gianni leading a balanced attack with five kills. Janke and redshirt sophomore Jackson Hickman, off the bench, each chipped in with four. It was a close set with 12 ties and a GCU 11-8 lead that wasthe largest lead for either team. Up 22-21, Janke was clutch and helped close out the set with a kill and a service ace in back-to-back points to set up redshirt junior middle blocker Kyle Thompson to score set point on a kill.
In the fourth set, Stanford was able to close out the match with a 25-22 win. GCU withstood an early 6-2 Cardinal run and responded with a 6-1 run to lead to a 21-18 lead. Stanford rattled off three quick points to tie it up before Janke put GCU ahead with a kill at 22-21. Stanford closed out the final four points with a GCU service error, a service ace, a kill and a block to win the match.
Along with the 12 kills, Janke added nine digs, four aces and three blocks in an all-around performance. Gianni chipped in with nine kills and Hickman was productive off the bench with nine kills on .615 hitting.
Press Release courtesy of Grand Canyon University Athletics – Jerob Moon
Click on Logo
