IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia men's volleyball start off the season 4-3 and 1-0 in the MPSF conference. The team headed down the road to play against the No. 5 UC Irvine tonight where they challenged the Anteaters in a four set dual. 

Seniors Raymond Barsemian and Jordan Hoppe led the night for the Eagles with 14 and 13 kills respectively. Hoppe added three aces as well as four block assists during the match after being named the MPSF Offensive Player of the week last week. Following close behind was Jonathon Carlson and Darcy Taig contributed with eight and six kills, both hitting above .530 with no errors. Addison Enriques added 13 digs with freshman setters McClain Mott and Christian Oviedo dishing out 26 and 19 assists.  

Barsemian put pressure on the UCI serve receive early, taking an early 7-4 lead. Tied up at 20-20, the score continued to switch on both sides until UCI was able to close out the set with a kill, finishing the first set by a close 24-26. UCI continued their momentum in the second set, not allowing CUI to go on runs throughout the match while taking the set 20-25. 

Carlson was able to go on a service run for the Eagles and taking the lead by a close 14-12. The score continued to tally back and forth until a couple errors from the green and gold let the Anteaters up by one point. The Anteaters were able to crawl back within a couple points before the Eagles were able to pull away with Hoppe helping clinch the set with an ace and finish another tight score 28-26, forcing a fourth set for UC Irvine. 

The fourth set was no different than the others, as the score would alternate back and forth until UCI took a 20-23 lead over CUI. The Eagles were able to come within one, 22-23. UC Irvine was able to finish out the match with a kill from Joel Schneidmiller 23-25. 

The Eagles head on the road to take on No. 15 UC San Diego on Friday, January 31 at 7pm in La Jolla, Calif. 

To see the full Concordia men's volleyball schedule, please click here.