2023 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's volleyball team

2023 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's volleyball
2023 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's volleyball
NCAA Tournament, Quarterfinals
Conference	Mountain Pacific Sports Federation
Record	22-8 (6–6 MPSF)
Head coach	Matt Werle (8th season);
Assistant coach	Matt August (1st season)
Home arena	GCU Arena
	Seasons ← 2022 2024 →

The 2023 Grand Canyon Antelopes men's volleyball team represented Grand Canyon University in the 2023 NCAA Division I & II men's volleyball season. The 'Lopes, led by eighth year head coach Matt Werle, played their home games at GCU Arena.^[2] The 'Lopes were members of the MPSF and were picked to finish fourth in the MPSF preseason poll.^[3]

2023 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation volleyball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 1 UCLA ‍†‍‡‍^y	12	–	0	1.000	31	–	2	.939
No. 8 BYU ‍‍‍	8	–	4	.667	19	–	7	.731
No. 6 Grand Canyon ‍‍‍^y	6	–	6	.500	22	–	8	.733
No. 9 Stanford ‍‍‍	6	–	6	.500	15	–	13	.536
No. 10 Pepperdine ‍‍‍	5	–	7	.417	16	–	14	.533
No. 12 USC ‍‍‍	3	–	9	.250	10	–	16	.385
Concordia Irvine ‍‍‍	2	–	10	.167	8	–	19	.296

† – Conference champion ‡ – 2023 MPSF Tournament champion y- Invited to the NCAA Volleyball Tournament As of November 9, 2024 Rankings from AVCA

Roster

2023 Grand Canyon roster^[4]

Defensive specialist/libero

13 Cole Udall - Senior
15 Cooper Herndon - Sophomore

Middle blockers

3 Chibuike Obi - Junior
8 Cameron Thorne - Freshman
9 Troy Culp - Senior
14 Jacob Guerber - Junior
18 Matthew Meeker-Hackett - Freshman
21 Colin Lovejoy - Senior
23 Rico Wardlow - Junior
24 Nicholas Bentlage - Freshman

Outside hitters

1 Camden Gianni - Junior
2 Karter Rogers - Sophomore
5 Chase Gianni - Freshman
11 Christian Janke - Senior
12 Grayson Browning - Senior
16 Jackson Hickman - Junior
22 Jordan Lucas - Freshman
25 Jacob Ceci - Freshman

Opposite hitters

6 Jonah Gilbert - Freshman
20 Carson Brandt - Junior

Setters

4 Aidan Case- Freshman
7 Nicholas Slight - Sophomore
10 Jaxon Herr - Freshman

Schedule

TV/Internet Streaming information:

All home games were streamed on ESPN+. Most road games were also streamed by the schools streaming service. The conference tournament was streamed by FloVolleyball.

Date time	Opponent	Rank ^{(tournament seed)}	Arena city (tournament)	Television	Score	Attendance	Record (MPSF record)
1/6 6 p.m.	Lindenwood	#11	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–1 (25–21, 25–15, 35–37, 25–13)	1,057	1–0
1/8 12 p.m.	Lindenwood	#11	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25–21, 25–22, 25–21)	418	2–0
1/13 5 p.m.	@ George Mason	#9	Recreation Athletic Complex Fairfax, VA (Patriot Invitational)	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25–20, 25–18, 25–16)	293	3–0
1/14 3 p.m.	vs. #14 Ohio State	#9	Recreation Athletic Complex Fairfax, VA (Patriot Invitational)		W 3–2 (23-25, 25–18, 25–23, 18–25, 15–10)		4-0
1/27 6 p.m.	Erskine	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–0 (26-24, 25–20, 25–17)	563	5-0
1/29 2 p.m.	UC San Diego	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25-19, 25–19, 25–23)	459	6-0
1/31 6 p.m.	Lees-McRae	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25-18, 25–17, 25–19)	386	7-0
2/01 6 p.m.	Lees-McRae	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–1 (23-25, 25–14, 25–17, 25–20)	346	8-0
2/03 6 p.m.	#7 UC Irvine	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–1 (25-19, 25–19, 12–25, 25–22)	1,108	9-0
2/04 6 p.m.	#7 UC Irvine	#9	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–2 (25-21, 21–25, 19–25, 27–25, 15–13)	704	10-0
2/10 6 p.m.	Arizona Christian	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3–0 (25-12, 25–20, 25–21)	548	11-0
2/15 8 p.m.	@ #12 USC*	#5	Galen Center Los Angeles, CA	P12, P12 LA	W 3–1 (25-21, 25–22, 26–28, 25–22)	400	12-0 (1-0)
2/17 8 p.m.	@ #12 USC*	#5	Galen Center Los Angeles, CA	P12+ USC	W 3–1 (21-25, 25–22, 25–20, 25–22)	401	13-0 (2-0)
2/22 8 p.m.	@ #7 Pepperdine*	#5	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA	WavesCast	W 3–2 (25-18, 25–21, 23–25, 20–25, 16–14)	437	14-0 (3-0)
2/24 1 p.m.	@ #7 Pepperdine*	#5	Firestone Fieldhouse Malibu, CA	WavesCast	L 2-3 (25-20, 25–23, 17–25, 25–27, 9–15)	317	14-1 (3-1)
3/03 6 p.m.	#8 BYU*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-18, 25–22, 25–21)	2,134	15-1 (4-1)
3/04 6 p.m.	#8 BYU*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-2 (22-25, 25–17, 19–25, 25–17, 17–15)	2,567	16-1 (5-1)
3/08 6 p.m.	#11 Ball State	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (26-24, 25–23, 25–19)	545	17-1
3/10 6 p.m.	Olivet Nazarene	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-19, 25–14, 25–20)	457	18-1
3/15 6 p.m.	Princeton	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (25-22, 25–20, 25–22)	514	19-1
3/17 4 p.m.	Princeton	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (27-25, 25–22, 25–21)	424	20-1
3/24 7 p.m.	Concordia Irvine*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	L 2-3 (23-25, 23–25, 27–25, 25–12, 9–15)	756	20-2 (5-2)
3/25 6 p.m.	Concordia Irvine*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	W 3-0 (37-35, 25–22, 25–16)	812	21-2 (6-2)
3/31 6 p.m.	#2 UCLA*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	L 1-3 (31-29, 25–27, 20–25, 13–25)	1,821	21-3 (6-3)
4/01 6 p.m.	#2 UCLA*	#5	GCU Arena Phoenix, AZ	ESPN+	L 0-3 (28-30, 21–25, 19–25)	1,563	21-4 (6-4)
4/07 7 p.m.	@ #9 Stanford*	#6	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA	P12+ STAN	L 0-3 (17-25, 17–25, 20–25)	612	21-5 (6-5)
4/08 6 p.m.	@ #9 Stanford*	#6	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA	P12+ STAN	L 2-3 (21-25, 26–24, 18–25, 25–22, 10–15)	724	21-6 (6-6)
4/19 8 p.m.	#9 Pepperdine ⁽⁵⁾	#7 ⁽⁴⁾	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA (MPSF Quarterfinal)	FloVolleyball	W 3-0 (25-22, 25–17, 25–20)	705	22-6
4/19 4:30 p.m.	#2 UCLA ⁽¹⁾	#7 ⁽⁴⁾	Maples Pavilion Stanford, CA (MPSF Semifinal)	FloVolleyball	L 0-3 (23-25, 19–25, 20–25)	457	22-7
5/4 2 p.m.	#4 Long Beach State	#6	EagleBank Arena Fairfax, VA (NCAA Quarterfinal)	ESPN+	L 1-3 (25–22, 17–25, 22–25, 23–25)		22-8

*-Indicates conference match. ^(#)-Indicates tournament seeding.

Times listed are Time in Arizona.

Announcers for televised games

Lindenwood: Houston Boe & Braden Dohrmann
Lindenwood: Braden Dohrmann & Houston Boe
George Mason: Josh Yourish
Erskine:
UC San Diego:
Lees-McRae:
Lees-McRae:
UC Irvine:
UC Irvine:
Arizona Christian:
USC:
USC:
Pepperdine:
Pepperdine:
BYU:
BYU:
Ball State:
Olivet Nazarene:
Princeton:
Princeton:
Concordia Irvine:
Concordia Irvine:
UCLA:
UCLA:
Stanford:
Stanford:
MPSF Tournament:

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	Final
AVCA Coaches	11	9	9	9	9	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	5	6	7	7	6	6
Off the Block Media	Not released		8	8	8	5	5	4	5	5	5	5	5	5	7	6		5

^The Media did not release a Pre-season or Week 1 poll.

References

^ "Volleyball Alumni Report: August named assistant with Lopes". Irvine Valley College Athletics. Retrieved July 21, 2022.
^ "COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: Werle, Grand Canyon left to wonder, 'what if?'". Meadville Tribune. Retrieved March 29, 2020.
^ "UCLA picked to win 2023 MPSF championship in preseason poll". Off the Block. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
^ "2023 Men's Volleyball Roster - The Official Site of Grand Canyon Athletics". Grand Canyon Athletics.

[1] "Volleyball Alumni Report: August named assistant with Lopes". Irvine Valley College Athletics. Retrieved July 21, 2022.

[2] "COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL: Werle, Grand Canyon left to wonder, 'what if?'". Meadville Tribune. Retrieved March 29, 2020.

[3] "UCLA picked to win 2023 MPSF championship in preseason poll". Off the Block. Retrieved December 16, 2022.

[4] "2023 Men's Volleyball Roster - The Official Site of Grand Canyon Athletics". Grand Canyon Athletics.

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