MALIBU, Calif. – The Concordia men's volleyball team concluded regular season play on Saturday evening with a game at No. 4 Pepperdine. It was an even serving battle, but the Waves outnumbered the Eagles in every other statistical category to earn the victory 3-0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-17).
On the Eagles side of the net, head coach
Shawn Patchell put out a multitude of line-ups in order to slow down the Waves. A total of 13 players saw action for CUI, led by
Raymond Barsemian who had four kills and two aces.
Hunter Howell had three kills and hit .600 while collecting a solo block and a block assist.
Tough serving from Concordia put them up early 5-3. The Eagles would then trail 16-8, but a
Jordan Hoppe kill from the right pin off a set by
Addison Enriques helped trim the lead. The momentum stayed on the side of the Waves as they closed out the set with a 9-2 run.
The Eagles looked to turn this match around as they took the lead at 6-5 after a trio of Wave errors. Back-to-back points from Barsemian and kills from Hoppe and newly inserted
Darcy Taig allowed the Eagles to retake the lead at 11-10. A double block from Taig and
Noah Lassandro tied the set back up at 17-17 and forced a Pepperdine timeout. A late 6-0 run for the Waves extended their lead and ended the set.
Concordia switched up its line-up in set three, moving Barsemian to opposite and putting
Zachary Meyer on the outside. Being a spark off the bench, Meyer put down two kills early to tie the set at 5-5. He would come up big later in the game, scoring two points in the team's 6-2 run to cut the Pepperdine lead to 15-13. The Waves offense did not let up as they produced runs to finish off the match.
With Pepperdine's win and a USC victory over UCLA, the Waves are the MPSF regular season champions and will host the upcoming MPSF tournament.
What's Next: The Eagles finished tied for sixth place in the conference and clinched the seventh seed in the upcoming conference tournament. Concordia will face second-seeded UCLA on Apr. 13 at 7 p.m. for a spot in the MPSF semifinals.
For the full CUI men's volleyball schedule, click here.
