IRVINE, Calif. – After two weeks on the road, the Concordia men's volleyball team made its first appearance at home, taking on Benedictine and Westcliff. The Eagles came out victorious, sweeping both opponents in quick fashion.
"We work hard and we've been road warriors playing some really good teams the last six matches," added head coach
Shawn Patchell. "It's great to be home and get a winning streak going."
Concordia 3 – Benedictine 0
The Eagles opened the night against the Redhawks, led by
Luke Krzmarzick with a season-best 10 kills. The freshman also hit a match-high .533 as part of the Eagles .429 offensive efficiency. Following behind was
Jordan Hoppe with eight kills and
Jonathan Carlson with five.
The Eagles opened up the match with back-to-back points that created the momentum to a 9-4 lead. Benedictine crawled back to within one before Concordia was able to push back ahead by at 20-16. Hoppe secured a point while
Hunter Howell and Carlson teamed up for a block followed by Krzmarzick to end the set.
Noah Lassandro put the Eagles ahead in set two with tough serving, putting down an ace and forcing bad passes that led to a Carlson solo block and Benedictine error at 6-3. Tied up at 12, Concordia went on a 10-3 run consisting of six kills and four Redhawk errors.
Darcy Taig checked in late to secure two points which closed out the set.
After back-and-forward play to begin the third, Lassandro and Hoppe put down attacks to extend the lead to 15-10. Carlson earned a kill out of the back row before serving up a trio of aces to put the Eagles up 22-13.
Parker Maki made an appearance and delivered a kill before Carlson followed up with one of his own to give Concordia the first win of the season.
Concordia 3 - Westcliff 0
The Eagles turned around with a second match, this time displaying new faces onto the court. Included in the core of new players was
Jack Wirth, the local product out of University High School who made his college debut on Thursday night. The outside hitter put down three kills, collected two digs, and played a key role at the service line.
"We talked about Wirth redshirting and it was my call and he's ready to roll," explained
Shawn Patchell. "He's a kid that's working hard in practice and he is going to get opportunities. We've got some other freshmen that we could've thrown in there as well but we played everybody and everybody responded well."
Outside hitter Maki put down five kills in the match and hit .833 while playing a few minutes in the middle. Senior setter
Isaiah Kaaa got the start and had 24 assists, six digs, and two aces. Also scoring for the Eagles were
Logan Glave and
Bailey Mundy who each had six kills and three aces. For the match, Concordia served 11 aces which marks for the most in a single match in program history.
Kills early from Maki and
Zachary Meyer put Concordia up 8-2 in the first. The Eagles soared ahead to a 20-11 lead and put together a 5-1 run to close out the set after a service error for the Warriors.
Concordia lifted off to an early 4-0 advantage. Kills by Mundy and Glave helped gain separation put their team up 17-11. A tip from Meyer down the line and shot from the middle blocker Andrew Delmada gave Concordia the 2-0 lead.
The story of set three was the tough serving. Mundy allowed the Eagles to get away early, followed by
Owen Chun's first career ace. Glave served three-straight aces and put the Warriors out of system that allowed Wirth a kill on the left side to put Concordia up 18-9. Westcliff secured some life with a short run but a Glave kill and Kaaa ace sealed the night with two Concordia victories.
"What I liked the best was the fact that we played with poise and it seemed like we were enjoying the sport," said Patchell. "When you're on the road, getting beat up a little bit it's hard to see but the guys love the game, they served extremely well and they just seemed like they were free instead of pressing."
Concordia will continue their streak on Saturday at 12 PM, against the reigning Division III NCAA Champions, Springfield.
