USC
7-18, 3-8
Grand Canyon
18-10, 4-8
Team Stats
Game Leaders
Players Mentioned
USC Men's Volleyball Falls At No. 14 Grand Canyon
April 06, 2018 | Men's Volleyball, Features
Trojans visit No. 13 Concordia on Saturday in regular season finale.
Shalev Saada had a match-best 20 kills while hitting .424 to lead the No. 14-ranked Grand Canyon men's volleyball team to a 19-25, 25-22, 29-27, 25-23 home victory over unranked USC in a Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match on Friday (April 6) in Phoenix, Ariz.
Grand Canyon ended its regular season by improving to 18-10 overall and 4-8 in the MPSF. USC fell to 7-18 overall and 3-8 in the MPSF.
USC will conclude regular season play on Saturday (April 7) by visiting No. 13 Concordia at 7 p.m. PT, with seed positioning in the upcoming MPSF Tournament on the line. MPSF tourney quarterfinal play will be held on April 14.
Jack Wyett led USC with 15 kills and he added 6 digs and 4 blocks, while teammate Gianluca Grasso had 13 kills, 7 digs and 3 aces, Sam Lewis had 8 kills (hitting .500) and 8 blocks, Ryan Moss had 8 blocks and 8 digs and Gert Lisha had 5 blocks and 2 aces.
Luke Turner added 10 kills for Grand Canyon, while Trevor Weary came off the bench to get 9 kills, Ashton King had 8 blocks, Sky Engleman had 19 digs and Zachary Melcher had 6 blocks and 6 digs.
Grand Canyon hit .265 to USC's .252. The Trojans served 7 aces, while the Lopes had 13.0 blocks.
USC turned a 15-12 deficit into a 19-16 lead in the first set and cruised the rest of the way while serving 4 aces in the set. Grand Canyon scored 5 straight early points to build a 6-1 lead in the second set and the Trojans couldn't catch up as the Lopes hit .382. The third set was tight throughout, with neither team building more than a 2-point lead, and the set went into extra time before Grand Canyon scored the final 3 points (GCU hit .423). The Lopes used a 4-point run to build a 9-5 lead in the fourth set, then USC pulled to within 13-11 but GCU ran off 5 consecutive points to move ahead 18-11 only to see USC rally back from a 22-14 deficit to come within 24-23 before Saada put down the match-ending kill.
