IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia men's volleyball team added another upset victory to its resume Thursday night, defeating the #10 BYU Cougars in a five-set MPSF thriller, 25-20, 25-27, 22-25, 25-21, 15-13.

Setting season-high marks as a team with 71 kills and 12 service aces, the Eagle offense led the way with a .355 hitting percentage. Defensively, despite being out-blocked by a massive 14-1 ratio, the home team scraped together a season-high 54 digs and proved true its reputation as a tenacious defensive unit.

Concordia's hitters came out firing in the first set, swinging a blistering .522 en route to a 25-20 set win. BYU matched this output well early on, leading 9-8 before an equalizing kill from Hunter Howell kicked off an 11-4 run to force an opposing timeout at 19-13. The Cougars battled back to within two after an ace and strong serving run from Miki Jauhiainen brought the score to 21-19, but a kill from Raymond Barsemian and aces from Howell and Jordan Hoppe sealed the first frame for the Eagles.

The second set initially mirrored the first, this time with BYU emerging from an early back-and-forth scoreline to establish a 12-8 advantage. Several Eagle errors extended this scoreline to a 19-13 Cougar lead, but a 10-4 run buoyed by two kills each for Barsemian and Hoppe and an ace each for Howell and Hoppe tied the set at 23. The two squads again seesawed for four points before an error and a Gabi Garcia Fernandez kill clinched the 27-25 win for the visitors.

A neck-and-neck affair defined the entirety of the third set, with neither team holding a lead larger than three. Barsemian and Luke Krzmarzick each notched three kills through an even 12-12 start to the set, but the Cougars forced an Eagle timeout by jumping ahead 17-14. The Green and Gold battled back to 19-19 through another kill and ace from Hoppe, but three errors catalyzed an opposing 6-3 run which closed the set 25-22 in favor of BYU.

With their backs against the wall, the Eagles initially looked second-favorite in set four, with five combined kills from the Cougars' duo of Garcia Fernandez and Davide Gardini putting the home team into an 11-6 deficit. However, a series of errors shifted momentum and pulled Concordia back within one, and the teams exchanged side-outs until Barsemian and Krzmarzick swung the Eagles into a 20-19 lead. After the Cougars rallied late, Hoppe closed out the set on a 3-0 serving run, adding another ace to finish off the 25-21 set win and force a decisive fifth.

The pressure of the final set failed to faze Concordia's hitters, who struck for 10 kills and no errors on .500 hitting. Kills from Hoppe, Barsemian, Krzmarzick, and setter Chandler Gibb put the Eagles up 8-5, but the Cougars responded with a 3-0 run after the side switch to equalize at 8-8. A Howell kill off the slide put Concordia back up by one, but BYU clawed back to an 11-10 lead. Garcia Fernandez and Barsemian traded kills across five points, with the CUI junior tallying three to tie the set at 13-13. A final kill from Hoppe and an attacking error by the Cougars closed the set at 15-13 and completed the upset victory for the Eagles.

Several Eagles enjoyed milestone nights during the five-set victory. Barsemian tied his career-high with 24 kills, while Krzmarzick posted his first career double-double with 12 kills and 11 digs. Hoppe tied the Concordia record for aces in a single match with six, while also adding 19 kills, one shy of his career record.

The Eagles look to grab another upset on Saturday, March 30th, when #6 Stanford comes to town for Senior Night. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. and our video live stream will broadcast the pregame Senior Night festivities starting around 6:45 p.m. To access the video stream on Saturday click here.

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