Grand Canyon men's volleyball falls in 5 sets to host Long Beach State in NCAA semifinals
Grand Canyon's men's volleyball team was up two sets to none on host Long Beach State, feeling good about its chances of reaching the NCAA championship match.
But the Beach, which has never lost at home this season and with the more than 3,000 fans screaming encouragement for them, won the next three sets Thursday night to end GCU's historic season in heart break.
It was on the exact same night a year ago that GCU lost to Long Beach State in the NCAA Tournament in four sets in the first round. That was in Virginia.
This time, the Lopes were feeling confident after taking the first two sets by scores of 26-24 and 28-26. But they lost the last three by scores of 25-18, 25-23 and 15-10.
"I'm proud of our effort," GCU coach Matt Werle said in the post-game media conference. "We had the chances to kind of close that out early. There was one ball that fell after a play that we made that kind of popped our bubble, and we just never recovered from that.
"It's disappointing in that regard. But what these guys were able to accomplish in their careers at GCU should be something they can always hold onto and be proud of. I'm proud of them."
GCU's core of Camden Gianni, Jackson Hickman, Nicholas Slight and Rico Wardlow led the Lopes, getting them so close to ending the Beach's home win streak at the Pyramid, but, in the end, Long Beach State captured their 27th home win in a row.
Long Beach State will play No. 1 UCLA on Saturday at 2 p.m., at Long Beach State for the NCAA championship.
On Thursday, GCU was tied with Long Beach State 11 times in the first set and nine times in the second set.
GCU led 9-6 in the third set, before the Beach called time out. The Beach had a 5-0 run, and with GCU within 18-16, it responded with another 5-0 run, taking advantage of three Lopes' errors. Two GCU errors closed out Long Beach State's 25-23 fourth-set win.
Long Beach State was led by Skyler Varga's 20 kills, and 6-foot-10 Simon Torwie's eight blocks.
GCU makes history with 1st NCAA tourney win
On Grand Canyon's first serve of Tuesday night's match against Ohio State, Camden Gianni put the ball into the standard right of the playing net.
"That was setting the bar pretty low," coach Matt Werle said.
But Gianni laughed it off, and the Lopes followed up with the most impressive effort in the school's men's volleyball program history with a three-set victory over Ohio State with scores of 25-23, 25-20 and 25-21.
It was the first time in school history the GCU men's volleyball team won an NCAA Tournament match, putting them into Thursday's Final Four against the tournament's host school, Long Beach State.
"We didn't play the best of volleyball, but I never doubted our guys' confidence," Werle said. "It seemed like we were in control of the match, kind of predicated by what Ohio State did with their offense. Our service pressure was solid and consistent."
In all three sets, GCU took 17-14 leads.
"At that point, I didn't think our guys would let it slip away," Werle said.
Setter Nicholas Slight had 11 assists during GCU's first 15 points of the match.
Middle blockers Cameron Thorne and Rico Wardlow combined for 13 kills without an error, holding the Buckeyes to a .240 hitting percentage. No. 3-seed GCU had a .722 hitting percentage.
Gianni had 12 kills and 31 assists, and Jackson Hickman had 17 assists in the match.
Last year, GCU (26-4) traveled across the country to Virginia to play in its first NCAA tournament and got bounced in the first match by Long Beach State.
Now, the Lopes really can embrace the underdog role, playing a Long Beach State team that returns many of those same players with the home crowd behind them.
"We're comfortable coming to California," Werle said. "We're comfortable busing to Long Beach. It's a little bit more homey than last year, for sure.
"It's a different level of comfort with our guys right now."
GCU's bench will be right in front of the Long Beach State students, so the Lopes will try to embrace the noise. The Beach is 18-0 at home inside the Pyramid this season. GCU lost in four sets to Long Beach State in last year's quarterfinals. The only other time the schools met in men's volleyball was in 2019, a Long Beach State win.
This semifinal match is set for 6:30 p.m. on Thursday.
No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 UC Irvine will play in the earlier semifinal match on Thursday.
"Their fan base will be there in full force," Werle said.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: GCU men's volleyball falls to Long Beach State in NCAA semifinals
