IRVINE, Calif. – Concordia University Irvine opened conference play on Saturday night, taking on the Lopes of Grand Canyon. After a four-set battle, the Eagles came out on top 25-16, 23-25, 25-14, 25-19.
 
Chandler Gibb was instrumental to the CUI offense, dishing out a season-high 53 assists and pacing a .350 team hitting percentage for the night.
 
"Our passing was really good tonight and that helped me get our hitters in good spots and they were just going at it," said Gibb.
 
Along with spreading the wealth of good sets to his hitters, he did well defensively as well.
 
"I thought Chandler (Gibb) was sharp tonight," said CUI head coach Shawn Patchell. "His location (on his sets) was spot on and you didn't see many missed hits, so that's good location by our setter. He also had 12 digs and really played like a captain and a leader."
 
Two Eagles in particular were able to connect well with Gibb. Junior Jordan Hoppe put down a career-high 20 kills and Luke Krzmarzick who had the best match of his freshman career with 17 kills, eight digs, four blocks and an ace.
 
"I was stoked just to be on the travel team," said Krzmarzick, "so any way I can help the team as a freshman."
 
The night started off well for Concordia, as the Eagles flew out to a 9-1 lead in the first set. Kills from Hoppe and Hunter Howell extended the lead to 15-5. Later, Krzmarzick delivered a bomb and Howell followed with an overpass to put CUI ahead 21-10. GCU fought off two set points, but Hoppe put down a kill from the right side to end the first set, 25-16.
 
Grand Canyon would respond in set two, going toe-to-toe with Concordia early. After battling to an 11-11 tie, the Lopes put themselves ahead 19-14. The Eagles tied it back up thanks to Parker Maki who came off the bench to give his teammates a spark with two blocks and a kill. CUI had the momentum at the end, going on a 4-1 run to put them down by one, ultimately for GCU to sideout to take the set.
 
Similar to what happened in the first, the Eagles moved ahead early, 11-6. Four straight points by Maki and Andrew Delmada put CUI ahead by seven with the score15-8. The Lopes contributed some errors of their own to extend the Eagles lead to ten and then the Green and Gold ran away with four of the last six points to take a 2-1 lead in the match.
 
Kills from Hoppe and Howell got Concordia started in the fourth set, putting them ahead 9-5. The Eagles pushed towards the finish line with a five-point lead after an overpass kill by Gibb stretched the margin to 19-13. Back-to-back kills from Krzmarzick gave Concordia match point which Howell terminated to end it.
 
The Eagles improved to 5-8 overall and extended their home winning streak to nine straight victories dating back to last season. They are a perfect 5-0 at CU Arena this year.
The Eagles will now head on the road next week to take on top ten opponents, No. 7 BYU and No. 9 Stanford before returning for their next home match next Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. against UCLA.
 
For the full Concordia men's volleyball schedule, click here.