No. 13 Concordia swept at No. 2 Hawaii
Troy Makalena
HONOLULU, Hawaii – The No. 13 Concordia men's volleyball team (8-7, 3-3 MPSF) took a midseason non-conference road trip to the islands of Hawaii where they faced No. 2 Hawaii (10-2, 1-1 Big West) for the first-time ever in a first of a two-match series on Friday night. The Eagles held in there with the Rainbow Warriors, but it was Hawaii who came out with the win by a score of 25-15, 25-13, 25-21.
As one of the top teams in the nation, Hawaii was able edge Concordia in each statistical category. But, that did not prevent the Eagles from putting on a show where
Raymond Barsemian led with 11 kills and
Hunter Howell went errorless with six kills and hit .500 with three blocks.
Parker Maki emerged off the bench with five kills and hit .444 while
Jacob Weiser led Concordia with seven digs.
Hawaii got out to a fast lead in the first set, jumping ahead 7-3 and forcing Concordia into an early timeout. The Eagles crept back into the set by ways of three Barsemian points to cut the Warriors' lead to four at 11-7. Coming out of the media timeout,
Josiah Bergt ended the Hawaii run at 15-10 with a kill. Concordia then came close to losing a point on a Warriors block, but the Eagles scrappiness kept the ball alive allowing for Howell to push the ball into the open court for a kill, making the score 17-12. Hawaii used a 7-1 run behind their hot hitting to earn set point at 24-13. The Eagles responded by fighting off two set points by ways of a Howell kill and a
Chandler Gibb solo block, but the Warriors ended the set with their 19
th kill.
Concordia saw themselves down early at 4-0, but Barsemian delivered a kill for his team's first point. Down by four again, the Eagles got a spark from two kills from
Jonathan Predney and one from Barsemian to bring them to 8-7. Hawaii responded with a run of their own, but two kills by Predney out of the backrow slowed the Warriors down and made the score 14-9. Tough serving from Hawaii gave themselves an advantage, forcing free ball opportunities and targeting their opponent which led to a 12-point lead. Maki and Howell each collected kills before teaming up for a block to make it 23-13, but Hawaii put the set away with a kill and an ace.
The third set started out tight with Concordia getting their first lead of the match at 3-2 and teams trading points from there on. Maki collected three kills for Concordia, but Hawaii put up a 7-0 run to gain separation at 16-6. The Eagles returned the favor with a 7-2 run behind the distribution of
Isaiah Kaaa to come closer at 19-14. Concordia then came within three following a Barsemian put away and two Hawaii errors at 23-20. Perched at Warriors' match point, Concordia fought off one point on a Hawaii error but the No. 2 team in the country clinched the match with a kill.
Next Up: Concordia will get have a rest day before facing Hawaii again on Sunday at 7 PM (PT).
