The Concordia Men's Volleyball Team is off to a strong start after a win over defending Division III National Champions, the Springfield College Pride, 3-1 (17-25, 25-20, 25-17, 26-24).
 
Jonathan Predney led the offensive attack with 18 kills on the day with a .500 clip.  Raymond Barsemian was not far behind and posted a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs.  Chandler Gibb dished out an impressive 50 assists in the game to go with 10 digs for a double-double of his own.
 
Springfield dominated the first set after jumping out to a 3-0 lead.  Barsemian had the first Eagle kill of the day, but it was Springfield who controlled the tempo.  The Eagles were unable to string together consecutive points until 11-19.  A kill from Taylor Falduti followed by an ace from Gibb brought the Eagles back within six but they were never able to close the gap as the Pride took the set 25-17.
 
Concordia turned things around in the second set, jumping out to a 2-0 lead with kill by Falduti from Gibb and a block by Falduti and Parker Maki.  A back-and-forth battle ensued until a Predney kill and another Gibb ace put the Eagles up 9-7.  They hung onto their lead as kills from Hunter Howell and Predney helped close out the set with a 25-20 win to tie the game at a set each.
 
A huge run by the Eagle offense sparked a big third set as Concordia utilized a 7-0 run to take a 9-3 lead.  A kill from Howell got the ball rolling and Barsemian added an ace and a kill.  Gibb and Howell put up two big blocks to keep the momentum on the Eagles' side.  Predney held down the net with two solo blocks, shutting down the Springfield offense as Concordia stretched their lead to 22-14.  Two service errors by the Pride helped the Eagles take set three, 25-17.
 
Things got heated in the fourth set as the two teams traded points until Springfield took an 8-6 lead.  A kill by Barsemian from Gibb and a huge block by Barsemian, Faluduti and Maki tied things up 8-8.  Concordia and Springfield kept the game close throughout the set.  Maki tied the set at 19 with a kill fom Gibb before Hunter gave the Eagles a 20-19 advantage with another kill.  Gibb and Howell added a block en route to Concordia taking a 23-20 lead.  Predney brought CUI to match point with a kill, but Springfield battled back to tie the set 24-24.  Falduti and Barsemian closed out the match with two kills, both from Gibb, to give the Eagles a 26-24 set win and a 3-1 match win.
 
The Eagles hit .333 as a team en route to their first victory in Concordia's NCAA era.  Men's Volleyball heads to Northridge on Friday to take on CSUN for their first road game of the season.  After taking on UC San Diego in La Jolla on Saturday, January 20^th, the Eagles return home to take on UC Irvine in the CU Arena at 7 p.m. on January 24^th.