PHOENIX — Josh Schellinger put down 11 kills but the UC San Diego men's volleyball team was swept by a hot, ninth-ranked Grand Canyon team Sunday at GCU Arena.

Scores of the non-conference match went 25-19, 25-19, and 25-23.

The Tritons fell to 4-6 overall while the Lopes remained unbeaten and moved to 6-0.

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HOW IT HAPPENED
A night after hitting a season-best .459 in a sweep of Erskine, UC San Diego dropped to just a .181 attack percentage against Grand Canyon. The Tritons had 31 kills with 16 errors in 83 attack attempts.

On the other side of the net, GCU countered with a .329 attack, putting away 33 kills with nine errors in 73 swings. The Lopes held a 9-4 advantage in blocks.

Schellinger had the 11 kills and hit .300. He also added three digs, a block, and an assist. Ryan Ka and Nick Rigo each finished with five kills. Rigo hit .400 and had a pair of solo blocks. Jim Garrison floored three service aces while setter Gabriel Dyer amassed 25 assists to go along with a match-high six digs.

For the Lopes, Jackson Hickman led all players with 12 kills and Christian Janke had 10. Hickman also collected three aces, four digs, and two blocks. Jonah Gilbert and Rico Wardlow each had three blocks.

UC San Diego scored the first two points of the match on back-to-back kills by Rigo and Schellinger. With GCU ahead 6-5, the Tritons won six of the next seven points to go up 11-7. Garrison had two of his aces during that run. The Lopes returned the favor by winning six of the next seven points, giving them a 13-12 edge. Following a Schellinger kill that evened it up at 13-13, Hickman put away three-consecutive kills and Gilbert had a block to make it 17-13 in favor of the home team. Grand Canyon held a lead the rest of the way.

UC San Diego hit .240 and GCU hit .556 in the opening set.

The second frame was close early. With it knotted 6-6, two Triton errors allowed the Lopes to take a two-point lead and they stayed in front until the end. UC San Diego cut the deficit to two points on several occasions, the final time coming at 18-16 when Dyer had a kill. With Grand Canyon ahead 20-17, it went on a 5-2 run to close out the set and take a 2-0 lead in the contest.

UC San Diego had a .056 hitting percentage in the second set, its lowest of the match.

The third set was all Tritons early as they stormed out to a 6-1 lead, their largest of the day. With two blocks, Rigo was pivotal in the run. Unfortunately, the Lopes answered swiftly, taking the next six points to go in front. A later 5-1 run by UC San Diego had the visitors back in front by a score of 13-10. GCU would not regain the lead until five unanswered points put them ahead 19-17. Hickman had two aces and a kill during that span. Again, the Lopes stayed ahead until the end but the Tritons did make it close all the way to 24-23 when Grand Canyon had an error from the service line at match point. However, Hickman closed it out with his final kill of the day.

The last set featured UC San Diego's best attack at .318. In fact, the Tritons out-hit their opponent as GCU came in at .231.

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TRITON TIDBITS
• Nine Tritons have made their collegiate debuts so far this season: Evan Boyle, Joshua Ewert, Jim Garrison, Michael Robertson, Brett Pursley, Josh Schellinger, Peter Selcho, Sam Warren, Zachary Weston.
• Brad Rostratter, who was named UC San Diego's head coach on Oct. 7, 2022, earned his first win with the Tritons on Jan. 5 when they defeated Lincoln Memorial.

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UP NEXT
UC San Diego plays its next two matches at home. The Tritons host Ottawa on Feb. 3 (7pm) and Westcliff on Feb. 14 (5pm) inside LionTree Arena.

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About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of The Big West in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions II and III and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 83 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world's preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 90 percent, the highest rate among public institutions in Divisions I and II.