The Concordia Men's Volleball Team made a huge statement in their first game on the road of the 2018 season; the Eagles took down Division I CSUN in Northridge in dominating fashion.  The Eagles put together a gem from all ends of the court to defeat the No. 7 Matadors 3-1.
 
In their previous three meetings, the Eagles had been unable to take more than one set against CSUN.  In Friday's meeting, Concordia proved they belong on the big stage competing with big name Division I programs.
 
The game began as a battle for the lead as Taylor Falduti and Raymond Barsemian each chipped in kills and Jonathan Predney contributed an ace to give the Eagles an early 4-3 lead.  CSUN took advantage of CUI errors to regain the lead at 5-4 before the Eagles struck for four-straight points.  Parker Maki got a kill on a set from Chandler Gibb and Barsemian added another Eagle ace.  The Eagles went on another run, this time with six unanswered points including an ace from Hunter Howell and block from Falduti and Gibb.  CSUN errors proved extremely beneficial for the Eagles as they went on to take the set 25-20.
 
The Matadors answered back in the second set, besting the Eagles 21-25 to tie the match 1-1.  They outhit CUI .464 to .143 in the set.
 
The Eagles lit the world on the fire in the third set, storming back from a 10-11 deficit.  CUI went on a six-point tear to take a 16-11 lead including an ace from Gibb and a solo block from Barsemian.  A kill from Predney put the Eagles up 20-13, their biggest lead of the night at that point, as they continued the 13-2 run against the Matadors.  An ace from Howell pushed the Eagle advantage to 23-13 and they went on to close out the set 25-18.
 
Concordia picked up right where they left off in the fourth set as Howell and Barsemian got things started with a big block.  Maki put up a block to tie the set at 5-5 as the Eagles took off on another dominating run.  Outscoring CSUN 8-2, the Eagles added two more blocks.  Jacob Weiser made an impressive dig, giving Gibb the opportunity to assist in a Barsemian kill to stretch the lead to 10-6.  The Eagles stayed hot throughout the set with a .291 clip to go with 16 kills, taking the set 25-20.
 
Barsemian led the way offensively with 15 kills and a .289 attack percentage.  Predney was not far behind with 14 kills with a clip of .286.  Gibb recorded his second double-double in as many games with 40 assists and 10 digs, tied for the game high in digs with Weiser. 
 
Barsemian, Howell, Maki and Predney each had two service aces with the Eagles tallying nine as a team. 

Head Coach Shawn Patchell was extremely proud of his team's performance.

"This was a historic win for our program!  It was a great team effort on the road tonight!  We were resilient and showed poise in a tough venue.  Our upperclassmen really lead us tonight.  I'm proud of these boys."
 
With the win, the Eagles improve to 2-0 on the season as they head to La Jolla on Saturday to take on UC San Diego at 7 p.m.