IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia Men's Volleyball team took the court for the second straight night, this time playing host to the UC San Diego Tritons. Looking to avenge an earlier 3-1 defeat in La Jolla, the Eagles took down the Tritons in an intense five-set thriller, coming from down 2-0 to win 23-25, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23, 15-13.
Chandler Gibb was instrumental to the Eagles victory, conducting the team with 52 assists while collecting career-highs of 16 digs and six kills.
Raymond Barsemian upped his streak of double-digit kills to eight by racking up 16 tonight to go along with eight digs, six blocks and three aces.
Taylor Falduti contributed eight kills, eight blocks and hit .500.
Jonathan Predney got the Eagles going in the first set with a kill while Barsemian and Falduti followed along giving the Eagles a 3-1 lead. Tight play from both teams prevented either side from taking control, setting the tone for the rest of the night. Concordia maintained a three-point lead throughout the majority of the set before a 4-0 UC San Diego run fueled by Eagle errors put the Tritons up 22-21. A kill from Falduti tied it up, but UCSD took three of the next four points to claim the set.
Concordia jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second behind contributions from Barsemian and
Parker Maki. The Eagles went on a 3-0 run to take a 9-5 lead, but the Tritons responded with a 9-2 run of their own to go ahead 14-11. A trio of Eagle kills tied the set once again, and from there it was back-and-forth between the two teams until a triple block for Concordia gave the home team a 23-22 lead. Coming out of a timeout, momentum shifted in the Tritons favor courtesy of Eagle errors, giving UC San Diego the set and a 2-0 lead.
Another hot start propelled the Eagles to a 5-1 lead in the third set, but three UC San Diego kills and a Concordia error tied the set. Short runs by both teams kept the score close with neither team leading by more than three. Strong play from Barsemian and Predney gave Concordia the advantage over UC San Diego, and the Eagles claimed a 25-22 set victory.
Similar to the other sets, both teams traded points before Concordia went pulled away to 13-8 lead. The Eagles extended their lead via a kill from
Hunter Howell, who then teamed up with Gibb and Predney for back-to-back triple blocks to go up 17-11 and forced UC San Diego into a timeout. The Tritons came roaring back into the set, going on a 9-2 run to take a 20-19 lead. Both teams traded blows until 23-23, when the tough serving by Barsemian led to a Gibb overpass kill and an ace to force a fifth set.
The momentum remained with the Eagles at the start of their first fifth set of the year, where they pulled ahead 4-1 and caused an early Triton timeout. Continued pressure from Concordia gave them an 8-4 lead going into the side switch. The Eagles were up 12-9 before the Tritons stormed back with a 4-0 run to take a 13-12 advantage. Consistent play from Concordia forced a bad set from UC San Diego, tying the set up and placing Falduti back at the service line. From there, a dribbling serve off the tape for an ace and a solo block from Howell sealed the comeback for the Eagles.
Concordia's first win over UC San Diego since 2015 evens up their record at 4-4 while UC San Diego falls to 7-5 on the season. The Eagles head right back to the hardwood of CU Arena on Saturday afternoon at 1 PM when they host Pepperdine for the first time.
