SURPRISE, Ariz. – No. 14 Concordia (12-13, 3-6 MPSF) bounced back from a loss on Friday night with two victories over NAIA opponents Benedictine Mesa (17-5) and Ottawa University Arizona (14-10). Playing back-to-back games in the same gymnasium, the Eagles defeated the Redhawks 3-1 and followed with a 3-1 win against the Spirit.
 
Concordia 3 – Benedictine Mesa 1 (25-19, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22)
 
The Eagles revamped their line-up for their first match, giving experience to the younger players on the team. Freshman Owen Chun and Addison Enriques got their first starts of the season at opposite and libero respectively. Chun set a career-high of 10 kills which trailed only senior Jonathan Predney who had 13 of his own. Enriques had a career-best 11 digs to lead the Concordia backrow while Hunter Howell patrolled the net with seven blocks, which included a career-high three solo blocks. Howell also collected nine kills and hit .400. Jonathan Carlson also got the start on the outside and set a new career-high of nine kills and five digs.
 
Concordia got kills from Howell, Predney and Chun to fuel a 5-1 run and a 9-6 lead. Josiah Bergt made an appearance at middle blocker and sent back back-to-back Redhawk attacks back to extend the CUI lead, which Howell replicated later to make the score 16-13. Jacob Weiser dug a Benedictine swing that Chandler Gibb distributed to Carlson for a kill, to give the Eagles set point before Gibb dug a left side attack and Weiser set Chun to end the first.
 
A Bergt block and Chun kill set the tone for the Eagles as they went on a 5-0 run to get ahead 7-2. Howell and Carlson terminated and set up a solid block to score four straight to gain a lengthen the gap between the two teams at 12-6. Chun swung for a kill and Bergt served an ace as part of a 4-1 run to go up by seven. Isaiah Kaaa set up Carlson for a kill with only one blocker at the net and Chun responded with a kill of his own to give Concordia set point, 24-18. The Redhawks scored back-to-back points but their run ended with an error of their own to give CUI the 2-0 lead.
 
The third set was filled with ties and lead changes before Benedictine used a 5-1 run to lead 17-13. Predney scored for the Eagles and a trio of Redhawk errors brought Concordia within three at 21-18. Benedictine would head toward the end of the set, but CUI crept back in the set with a Carlson kill and consecutive hitting errors from the Redhawks to come within two. The Eagles had errors of their own which sealed the third set and extended the match.
 
Momentum shifted in favor of Benedictine where they kept the lead and went ahead 7-2. The Redhawks went up 17-12 and Concordia fought their way back to lessen the lead to one after two Predney kills and a Taylor Falduti solo block. Predney took charge and scored three out of five points as part of a 5-1 run to take the lead at 21-19. Carlson tooled the block twice and Chun changed up his attack with a tip to earn Concordia match point and Benedictine hit long to give CUI the victory.
 
Concordia 3 – Ottawa-Arizona 1 (18-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-23)
 
Heading right back to the court following their match with Benedictine, Concordia played around with their line-up again. Raymond Barsemian started off the match and hit .357 with 11 kills and collected two solo blocks. Darcy Taig came in at opposite and put down 10 kills and hit .529 while Howell had seven kills, three blocks and hit .600. Enriques improved his career-high from the last match to 17 digs and Carlson hit .313 with eight kills, one shy from his career-high the first match.
 
The Spirit put up an early 10-3 run to get ahead 15-9. Bergt switched from middle blocker to opposite and terminated while Parker Maki served an ace. Barsemian followed that up with a kill after Maki and Enriques made back-to-back defensive plays to keep the ball alive which brought the Eagles within four at 21-17. Concordia got a point from Bergt who tooled the high hands on the block from a set by Enriques, but that was not enough as Ottawa took the next two points of the first set.
 
Concordia bounced back right away, going up 6-3. An 8-1 run fueled by blocks by Bergt, Carlson, Falduti and Howell put the Eagles ahead by five at 14-9. Barsemian sent back a Spirit attack by himself and Falduti killed a set from Gibb to extend the Eagle lead of 19-9. Taig tooled the block, but Ottawa went on a short run which Taig again exterminated to take the set 25-18.
 
The Eagles repeated their dominance early, using back-to-back Sprit errors for a 11-7 lead. Barsemian collected two kills followed by one by Bergt to go up by six. Howell contributed to a 5-0 run with two kills and a solo block to extend their lead to ten at 21-11. Gibb set a ball to the middle in which Falduti delivered and Ottawa had a hitting error to complete the set.
 
Carlson and Taig scored for Concordia and Howell tapped down an overpass to get ahead 6-2. The Spirit sparked an 8-1 run to take a lead at 15-11 before the Eagles responded with a run of their own consisting of three straight Taig kills. Down 21-19, Taig and Carlson swung for points and Ottawa errored late for Concordia to retake the lead and set at match point, 24-22. A swing from the Spirit's outside hitter touched the court on the Eagles' side but Barsemian sided-out to clinch the second victory of the day.
 
Next Up: Concordia heads back on the road and resumes MPSF play taking on No. 2 BYU on March 29^th and Stanford on March 31^st.