LA JOLLA, Calif. – In a battle of Division II programs, the Concordia men's volleyball team took on the UC San Diego Tritons for its first of two-game series. The Eagles set its sights on a second win over a ranked team this season and came out with just that, taking down the Tritons 3-1 (25-21, 19-25, 25-16, 25-19).
 
It was the effective play of sophomore Noah Lassandro that helped put CUI on top as the middle blocker hit an astronomical .900 with a career-tying nine kills on ten errorless swings to go along with two blocks.
 
Freshman setter McLain Mott earned his first career double-double with 40 assists and a personal-best 11 digs. Meanwhile, the senior duo of Raymond Barsemian and Jordan Hoppe shared team-highs in kills with 11 and had seven and eight digs respectively.
 
The Eagles got off to a quick start, scoring seven of the first eight points. An error from the Tritons and an ace from Jonathan Carlson put CUI back up by five at 19-14. Carlson collected one of his six kills to give his team set point and Hoppe delivered on a swing out of the backrow to round out the set.
 
UC San Diego had a service error to give Concordia the lead at 15-14 in the second. A late 9-2 run gave UCSD the set, but it allowed CUI motivation to regroup in the next set.
 
Zachary Meyer put down a kill and Gil Herold served back-to-back aces to put the Eagles up by six in the third. A 4-1 run fueled by a pair of Herold blocks and kills from Barsemian and Hoppe made the score 22-15 until a trio of UCSD hitting errors allowed CUI to take the 2-1 match lead.
 
Tied up at 14-all, Concordia put pressure from the service line and block to force a 6-0 run. Another Triton error followed by a Hoppe ace gave the Eagles match point, eventually leading to a Herold put away to clinch the victory for CUI.
 
Both teams have a few days to rest and recover before meeting up again next week on Feb. 4 as they will meet in CU Arena at 7 p.m. for a rematch. For the full men's volleyball schedule, click here.