IRVINE, Calif. – Zachary Meyer collected a season-high 10 kills and Chandler Gibb added a team-high 21 assists Wednesday night but the Eagles ultimately fell to No. 6. UCLA in three sets.

Concordia University Irvine entered the evening a perfect 5-0 at home and received a boost from Meyer in the opening set.  The redshirt sophomore from Wheaton, Illinois, collected four kills in the first, including the last three of the set for the Green and Gold. Unfortunately, the Bruins offense featured five kills from Brandon Rattray, as well as four apiece from Austin Matautia and Daenan Gyimah as the Bruins ran away with the opener, 25-17.

CUI had a chance to take the second set after moving ahead 13-10.  Noah Lassandro made his presence felt with back-to-back blocks to help the Eagles rattle off four straight points.  After the Bruins broke through with a point, Meyer responded with another impressive kill to boost the CUI lead up to 14-11. Then Raymond Barsemian joined the fray with a timely swing that made it 15-12. Barsemian was making his first appearance in over a month after working his way back from a knee injury. The redshirt junior from La Crescenta, Calif. finished the night with six total kills.

But after the Bruins called a timeout, they rallied with a 4-0 run to briefly take a 16-15 advantage.  CUI jumped ahead 23-22 off another smash by Lassandro and the match looked destined for a 1-1 tie. However, the Bruins regrouped thanks to two straight aces by Rattray, and escaped 26-24 to snatch a surprising 2-0 lead.

Meyer and Barsemian each picked up multiple kills in the third set, but UCLA took control and hung on for a 25-17 victory to close out the match.  Addison Enriques joined Gibb with eight digs on the back end to lead the CUI defense.

The Green and Gold will get another chance to #DefendTheNest this Friday, Feb. 22 at 7 p.m. when the Eagles welcome Pepperdine to town.

For the full CUI men's volleyball schedule, click here.