SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - After a tough loss to No. 5 UCSB yesterday, the Concordia men's volleyball team bounced right back tonight to defeat No. 13 CSUN in a five set thriller at the UCSB Asics Invitational. 

Raymond Barsemian led the Eagles with 20 kills while racking up eight digs in the back row. Noah Lassandro had a strong night going 9-for-15 with no errors and a hitting percentage of .600 with four blocks. Jordan Hoppe contributed with 13 kills and Addison Enriques recorded a team high 17 digs. Freshman setter McLain Mott dished out 38 assists with four kills.

The first set was a close match-up as the Eagles would go down just a few points, but ultimately fell by a close score 24-26. The second set was another long fought battle with Concordia starting down by six points. Just as CUI was coming back, CSUN was forced to take both timeouts as CUI came within just one point. The battle continued until two errors from the Matadors and a kill from Hoppe forced a win from the Eagles by a rare 40-38 score. Concordia continued their momentum into the third set until Northridge pushed back with a kill and block to end the set 22-25. 

In the fourth set, the Eagles were able to hold the Matadors from going on any runs keeping them within a couple points. CSUN burned both timeouts at the end of the set nearing a CUI victory but kills from Lassandro and Barsemian were unstoppable finishing 25-21, forcing a fifth set. A couple service and hitting errors in the beginning of the set allowed green and gold to get back in the game, making it 6 apiece. The Eagles were able to bounce back by going up two points, not allowing the Matadors to earn more than two consecutive points after switching sides. CUI prevailed and won the match 15-13. 

"I am really proud of how we were able to bounce back from a tough match on Thursday," said CUI head coach Shawn Patchell. "We saw such a remarkable improvement of team ego. The whole team was really supportive and positive of one another and both freshmen, returners and seniors really played for each other."

The long second set that ended up 40-38 in favor of CUI also reminded Patchell of another great memory from an extremely long portion of a game he was involved in 18 years ago.

"I won a 44-42 match in the NCAA National Championship in 2002 but that was back when we played to 30," recalled Patchell. "15 points of overtime was wild! Both teams really played high level side out volleyball."

The Eagles (2-1) will finish their first tournament of the 2020 season at the UCSB Asics Invitational Saturday, January 11 at 5:30 p.m. as they play No. 4 Long Beach State (2-0).