No. 6 BYU gets bested 3-0 by undefeated No. 2 GCU

PROVO, Utah — No. 6 BYU men’s volleyball fell to No. 2 Grand Canyon 3-0 (25-21, 25-20, 25-23) Saturday night at the Smith Fieldhouse in its second Mountain Pacific Sports Federation match of the season. 

Kupono Browne led the Cougars with 11 kills, two digs and two blocks. Jon Stanley recorded two service aces through the match, tying his career high. 

The undefeated Lopes move to 11-0 on the season and 2-0 in MPSF play, remaining the sole undefeated team in Divison 1 NCAA men's volleyball. GCU outhit BYU with a .427 clip, holding the Cougars to a .276 clip.

 

Set One

The Cougars dropped to an early 4-1 deficit against the Lopes in the first set. A service ace by Miks Ramanis put BYU back in the mix. The Cougars tied the match with a kill from Browne, 6-6. Both sides traded points, resulting with GCU retaking the lead with a 3-0 run before a BYU called timeout 13-9. 

Each team went point-for-point through the next nine serves, ending with a 3-0 run by the Lopes to cause another Cougar timeout at 20-15, with BYU trailing.

BYU came back within three with a block from Teon Taylor and Ramanis at 24-21. The Cougars staved off a singular set point before dropping the first set to the Lopes 25-21 after a GCU kill.  

Set Two

BYU began the third set with a 3-1 lead, highlighted by a triple-block from Benson, Kupono and Taylor. GCU surged back, retaking the lead on a 8-1 run resulting in BYU calling a timeout, down four at 10-6. 

Another two kills and an ace from the Lopes caused a second Cougar timeout at 13-7.

BYU kept GCU within its sights with kills from Stanley and Browne. The Cougars cut the lead down to four with back-to-back kills by Ramanis and Stanley, 22-18. But the Lopes closed the set 25-20, with a kill by Camden Gianni. Gianni would go on to lead all players in kills with 15.

Set Three

BYU took the first three points of the set, highlighted by two consecutive aces from Stanley. A solo block from Tyler Herget propelled the Cougars’ largest lead of the night, resulting in a timeout call by GCU at 5-1. 

The Lopes tied the match 6-6, by going on a 5-1 run out of the break. Both sides fought for the lead in the middle of the set, with the Cougars staying in the fight with a kill to the GCU middle court to move up 14-13 on the Lopes. GCU regained the lead with a 4-0 run, resulting in a BYU timeout 17-14. 

Browne came out of the timeout with back-to-back kills to keep the Cougars within a point. Kills from Browne, Julien and Ramanis maintained the matched Lopes’ consistency. Set point for GCU saw Stanley go down on a play at the net. After a video review, the officials deemed the previous play a block by the Cougars to move BYU up within a point. The match ended with a BYU service error, resulting in GCU finishing the third set 25-23 and sweeping BYU 3-0.

Up Next

BYU remains in Provo next week to host conference opponent No. 4 UCLA  at 7 p.m. MST in a pair of matches from Feb. 23-24. Watch both competitions live on BYUtv.