IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia Men's Volleyball team welcomed UCLA into CU Arena for the first time in program history on Thursday night as part of the Eagles conference debut in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. It was hard fought battle against the No. 2 team in the country, but it was the Bruins who prevailed winning 25-18, 28-26, 25-17.
 
Jacob Weiser anchored the Eagles defense with a match-high 12 digs while Raymond Barsemian had 12 kills and hit .333. Chandler Gibb collected 28 assists and five digs and Hunter Howell hit .400 with five kills on ten swings.
 
Concordia took the first point of the match from a Barsemian kill. UCLA benefited from Eagles errors and pulled away to a 6-3 lead. Kills by Barsemian and Jonathan Predney brought Concordia within one at 7-6 before UCLA went on a 3-0 run to lead 10-6. A service error and a Predney kill made it 12-11, but the Bruins followed with a 6-2 run. Concordia went on their own 5-2 run near the end the set, but UCLA once again benefited from Concordia errors to end the first set.
 
After a 3-1 UCLA lead to start the second set, Concordia went on a 5-0 run to go ahead 6-3. Contributions on offense from Taylor Falduti, Barsemian and Darcy Taig put Concordia on a 3-0 run, forcing UCLA into a timeout with the Eagles leading 13-10. Small runs from the Bruins tied the set up at 19 and the teams continued to side out with the Eagles earning a set point at 24-23. UCLA collected two kills to pull ahead, but Concordia was able to fight off two set points. However, the Bruins took the final two points, gaining a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
The third set began with both teams trading blows until Concordia went on a 4-0 run consisting of three UCLA errors and a Howell ace, bringing them up 10-8. The Bruins returned the favor with five straight kills to go up 13-10 and causing an Eagles' timeout. UCLA never looked back as they collected runs and sided out for the rest of the set. A service error by UCLA made it 22-17 Bruins, but three straight points ended the match giving the Bruins their first conference win.
 
Concordia falls to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the MPSF, while UCLA improves to 12-1 on the season. The Eagles return to CU Arena on Friday night, where they face UC San Diego in a rematch from earlier this season where the Tritons edged the Green and Gold in four sets. First serve is at 7:00 PM and live stream and stats are available at portal.stretchinternet.com/cui.