PROVO, Utah — No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball fell to No. 2 Grand Canyon 3-0 (34-32, 25-23, 25-23) in a tight three set match Friday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in its conference opener.
With the loss, the Cougars fell to 9-4 on the season in what was game one of two for hosting the Lopes this weekend. The first set was the longest frame BYU has played in a match all season with GCU prevailing 34-32.
Despite the loss, the Cougars outhit the Lopes .225 to .223 on the night and had 45 kills to GCU's 41. Junior Luke Benson led all players in kills with 13, while also recording eight digs and a block. Fellow junior Miks Ramanis recorded 12 kills and five digs on the evening while middle blocker Teon Taylor tied his career-high in kills with nine.
The Cougars were outmached in digs throughout the match 41-24 and had three services aces to the Lopes' five.
First Set
The Cougars took an early 2-1 lead following a kill from Benson at the net before the Lopes responded and took a 6-4 lead of their own. BYU rallied and evened the score at 6-6, following an attack error from GCU's Jackson Hickman.
Both teams continued to trade points as the score was tied at 11-11 before a kill by Kupono Browne gave the Cougars a 12-11 advantage. Later in the set, BYU extended its lead to 15-12 before a media timeout was called.
Following the timeout, the Cougars led 17-14 after a kill from Ramanis before the Lopes fought back and evened the score at 19-19. A thrilling back-and-forth point went GCU's way as they led 20-19 before BYU called a timeout.
The Cougars responded following the timeout, gaining a 21-20 lead before the Lopes called a timeout of their own. After the timeout, GCU took a 23-21 lead before BYU evened the score at 24-24 following a 3-0 scoring run. Both teams began to trade points and were tied at 32-32, before the Lopes prevailed in the longest set of the season for the Cougars, earning a 34-32 first-set victory.
Despite Grand Canyon winning the set, BYU outhit the Lopes .159 to .108 in the first frame.
Second Set
Both teams traded points to begin the second set, as the teams were tied at 7-7 before the Cougars took an 8-7 lead following a service ace from Browne. GCU evened the score at 13-13 and it then took a 14-13 lead after a BYU attack error.
Following a kill from Benson, BYU led 15-14 before a media timeout was called. After the timeout, the Cougars extended their lead to 16-14 following another kill from Benson. The Lopes later evened the score at 17-17 before they took an 18-17 lead following a ball handling error from BYU.
Later in the set, GCU led 22-20 before the Cougars evened the score at 22-22 following a kill from Jon Stanley, forcing the Lopes to call a timeout. Following the timeout, a service error from BYU gave GCU a 23-22 advantage, urging the Cougars to call a timeout. After the pause in play, BYU evened the score at 23-23 following a kill from Browne. With the two teams tied, the Lopes went on to win two straight points to win the second set 25-23.
Third Set
The Cougars jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in the third set following back-to-back kills from Ramanis and Teon Taylor, before an attack error from GCU extended BYU's lead to 8-4, forcing the Lopes to call a timeout.
After the timeout, the Lopes rattled off four straight points to even the score at 8-8 before the Cougars regained the lead at 10-8, following back-to-back kills from Taylor and Benson. GCU evened the score again at 11-11 and later took a 13-12 lead before BYU evened the score at 14-14, following a service error from the Lopes.
GCU retook the lead at 17-15 following a service ace from Camden Gianni and a kill from Hickman, urging the Cougars to call a timeout. After the stoppage in play, the Lopes later led 22-20 before GCU went on to win 25-23, sweeping the Cougars 3-0.
Up Next
BYU will host the No. 2 Lopes again tomorrow at 7 p.m. MST at the Smith Fieldhouse. The match will be televised on BYUtv and byutv.org.