PROVO, Utah – The Concordia men's volleyball team faced its sixth nationally ranked opponent on Thursday night, facing No. 8 BYU in the first MPSF road trip of the season. The Eagles and Cougars went the distance in set one, but BYU would run away the final two sets to take the match in three.
 
Jordan Hoppe led the way for Concordia, putting down 15 kills and hit .323 while Hunter Howell had six kills, hit .455, and was part of four blocks.
 
Looking for an upset against BYU in Provo for the second season in a row, the Eagles had the right start to do so, getting ahead 5-1 in the first set. Cougars climbed back to tie the set at 10-10 and was the first to 15. Howell closed the seam in a block to send back a BYU attack and help Concordia retake the lead at 21-19. Down 23-24, Howell put down a kill to fight off the first set point. The Eagles were able to fight off five set points before having a set point of their own after a Howell solo block at 29-28. Davide Gardini put down back-to-back kills to clinch the set for BYU at 32-30 despite Hoppe's 12 first set kills.
 
Concordia and BYU again to start set two, with the Cougars eventually taking the lead at 10-7. Parker Maki and Bailey Mundy each put down kills to cut the lead to one. Darcy Taig checked in and delivered a kill of his own with the Eagles down 21-16. Howell had a crossbody put down to help trim the lead, but BYU took the final two points of the set at 25-18.
 
The Eagles saw many new faces in the third set, trying to switch up the momentum against the Cougars. BYU had an early 6-1 lead, but Jonathan Carlson tooled the block for a kill and back-to-back Cougar errors brought Concordia within two at 6-4. Multiple service errors for BYU and another kill by Carlson kept the Green and Gold alive. Zachary Meyer took a heavy swing on the left side earning him another swing which he put down to make the score 23-12. Concordia's block got a touch against BYU's best attacker, but Branden Oberender tapped down the ball to end the match at 25-13.
 
Concordia drops to 5-9 overall and is now 1-1 in the MPSF. The Eagles head to the Bay to take on No. 9 Stanford on Feb. 16 at 5 p.m. PT.
 
For the full Concordia men's volleyball schedule, click here.