Concordia Men's Volleyball kept its winning streak alive Wednesday night with a four set win over the UC Santa Barbara Gauchos.

Hunter Howell played a huge roll in the eighth consecutive Eagle win. The middle blocker hit .583 with eight kills on 12 swings with only one error. His contribution wasn't limited to offense – Howell posted eight blocks and two digs. Aside from helping Concordia upset the No. 15 Gauchos, Howell was named Off The Block Men's Volleyball National Defensive Player of the Night.

In set one, the Eagles took a quick 5-2 lead on a few UCSB errors, an ace from Joey Pillon and a Jonathan Predney kill. Concordia kept its momentum throughout the set and established a seven point lead on a kill from Taylor Falduti. Although the Gauchos made a push and got within three of the Eagles, a UCSB hitting error and kill from Predney gave the Eagles a 22-17 advantage. Pillon put the ball away on set point to claim the game 25-22.

The Eagles established a comfortable lead in the second set, but secured the game on a four point run from kills from Ryan Anselmo and Howell. Isaiah Pono Kaaa came in clutch at the service line and delivered the set point ace.

Santa Barbara's offense and serving picked up in set three, while the Eagles gave away more points on attacking and service errors. The Gauchos sent the match to set four with the 25-15 win.

Howell put away the first two Eagle points in set four and Anselmo's ace put the Eagles behind 3-4. After going down 12-8, an effective Eagle timeout was called. The team responded with three straight points on a kill from Predney and two Gaucho mistakes to put Concordia within one. The two teams traded points until UCSB raced on a three-point run for game point. The Eagles performed under pressure with a kill from Pillon and were given a free point from a Gaucho error to tie the game at 24 and again at 27. Predney, Howell and Hammer's big time block gave the Eagles match point. And once again, a Hammer-Howell combo block closed the game out for Concordia.

Falduti posted a .313 hitting percentage and added four blocks. Chandler Gibb dished out 40 assists and two digs. Pillon put away seven with two aces and six digs. Predney had 15 kills, six blocks and six digs.

The Eagles are now 17-7 heading into their rematch against UC San Diego. In their last face off, the Tritons won a close five set battle over the Eagles. The game is at 7 p.m. on Friday in La Jolla, Calif.