Block Takes Down Grand Canyon, 3-2

Saturday, March 7

Phoenix, Ariz.

5:00 PM PT

UC Irvine

10-7,0-2Big West

Grand Canyon

14-7,4-2MPSF

Team	1	2	3	4	5	Final F
UC Irvine	20	22	25	25	15	3
Grand Canyon	25	25	13	22	9	2

Block Takes Down Grand Canyon, 3-2

March 07, 2020 | Men's Volleyball

Box Score

By: Stacey Shackleford

PHOENIX, Ariz. – The UC Irvine block came alive late in the match to help the seventh-ranked Anteaters to a 3-2 victory over No. 10 Grand Canyon in Antelope Gymnasium.

UCI (10-7) recorded 10 blocks in the final two sets to seal the comeback victory 25-20, 22-25, 25-13, 25-22, 15-9.

The Anteaters had 16 total blocks, tied for most this season. UCI topped the 'Lopes in aces 8-3 and in hitting percentage (.317-.200).

UCI was led by freshman outside hitter Akhil Tangutur with a career-high 16 kills followed by junior outside hitter Joel Schneidmiller with 12 kills, 10 digs and five aces.

Opposite Jonny Bowles returned to his home state of Arizona and was impressive with a career-high 12 kills and career-best five block assists.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
>Middle blockers Scott Stadick and Aiden Wolf-Nielsen each had eight total blocks, a career-high for Wolf-Nielsen
>JB Kam had a team-best 11 digs
>Christian Janke had a match-high 19 kills for Grand Canyon, while Camden Gianni added 17

TURNING POINTS
FIRST SET
>Grand Canyon led 8-6 then peeled off four straight to force an Anteater timeout, 12-6
>GCU would maintain a lead and held set point 24-18
>A kill by Joel Schneidmiller and a block by Scott Stadick and Brian Garcia helped UCI to 24-20, but the 'Lopes would win on an Anteater service error, 25-20

SECOND SET
>UCI used two Ahkil Tanguatur kills and a Jonny Bowles ace to take a 6-3 lead
>GCU went on a 6-1 run, which included three straight kills by GCU to move the Antelopes in front 16-14
>UCI would close to 18-17, but GCU would score the next two
>A kill by Bowles and an ace by Schneidmiller tied the set at 21-21
>Once again GCU responded with the next two, 23-21
>A kill by Tangutur would be UCI's last point as GCU closed out the set with the final two points 25-22

THIRD SET
> An 11-4 run which included two UCI blocks and two kills by Bowles helped the Anteaters to a 13-6 advantage
>The Anteaters would roll to a 25-13 victory

FOURTH SET
>Two blocks were part of a 5-0 spurt to give UCI a 6-1 lead
>A block by Bowles and Stadick put UCI up 14-10
>After GCU pulled within 14-13, Tangutur had a pair of kills to regain control, 16-13
>Three straight UCI errors tightened the score to 21-19
>A solo block by Stadick clinched the 25-22 win for the Anteaters

FIFTH SET
>UCI would jump out to a quick 5-1 lead, using a block assist and ace by Bowles
>Blocks assisted by Wolf-Nielsen moved the margin to 10-4
>The match was clinch on a Tangutur kill, 15-9

NOTES
>UCI beats GCU for the second time in nine days
>The win is the first this year in five sets (1-2)
>Schneidmiller increased his team lead in aces to 26
>JB Kam has averaged 2.58 digs since becoming the libero

UP NEXT
UCI returns home to host No. 8 Penn State Friday (Mar. 13) at the Bren Events Center. First serve is 7:00 p.m.