The Eagles battled with UCLA Saturday night, but fell to the Bruins in five sets. After dropping set one, the Eagles came back to take sets two and three. Although Concordia ultimately lost the match, the team showed the competitiveness it will bring to the MPFS when they officially join next year.
Ryan Anselmo led the team with 14 kills on 31 total attacks and a .226 hitting percentage. Joey Pillon put away 11 with six digs and an ace. Chandler Gibb had 39 assists, five digs and was in on two blocks. Hunter Howell hit .556 on five kills with zero errors. He also had four block assists and one solo block. Andrew Hammer hit .227 with nine put aways and four digs. Libero Jacob Weiser led the defense with seven digs.
The Bruins took set one 25-22, but the pressure Concordia applied in game one carried into the second set.
Gibb opened up game two with an ace and a Bruin error gave them the 2-0 start. The teams traded points until the game was tied at 23-23. Anselmo buried a set from Gibb to get the Eagles set point. Taylor Falduti went back to serve and a block from Pillon and Hunter ended the set.
The Eagles utilized strong side out volleyball and took advantage of the UCLA errors to win game two. Concordia extended their lead to three on a kill from Howell, but the Bruins made the score 21-19 with a kill of their own. Another UCLA mistake and a kill from Hammer gave the Eagles a 23-19 lead. After a Bruin serving error, the Eagles possessed a 24-20 lead. The Bruins weren't ready to quit and went on a three-point run. Falduti finished the game 25-23 with a kill from the middle.
In game four, the Bruins cut down on unforced errors and began to build a lead. While the game remained close initially, they captured the fourth 25-16.
At the start of set five, it seemed the Eagles were on track to upset the Bruins. They charged to a 3-0 lead with two of the three points from coming Pillon. UCLA called a time out and won the next point. Ryan Anselmo came through next with a kill to give the Eagles a 4-1 lead in the game to 15. At 5-2, the Bruins forged a four-point run to steal the lead at 6-5. After tying it up at seven, the Bruins took a six-point run to go up 13-7. UCLA gave the Eagles their next two points on attacking errors, but a big Bruin kill gave them match point. The Bruins took set five 15-9.
Concordia is now 16-9 on the year. Their next match is March 24th against the USC Trojans in Los Angeles, Calif. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m.Â
