IRVINE, Calif. - The Concordia men's volleyball team hosted No. 8 UCLA on Friday night in its conference home opener of the season. CUI was able to battle with UCLA, but the Bruins were able to prevail, winning in four sets 19-25, 25-17, 26-28, and 17-25.

After becoming the Concordia all-time kills leader on Wednesday, Raymond Barsemian was all over the court tonight collecting 14 kills, four blocks, six digs, and two aces. Outside hitter Jordan Hoppe was right behind Barsemian with 13 kills and five digs for the Eagles. Freshman Gil Herold had a solid night, contributing five kills and a career-high six blocks, one being solo.

Christian Oviedo dished out 28 assists for the green and gold while being valuable at the end line serving five aces. Oviedo ties an individual match record for aces in a four set match at Concordia along with two fellow players with five aces. 

In the first set, the Bruins took an early jump over the Eagles until McLain Mott went to the end line and went on a four point run and took a 10-9 lead. UCLA was able take the lead back and run with it, finishing the set with two aces. The green and gold answered back in the second set with Oviedo going to the back line and getting three consecutive aces, forcing a timeout and a six point lead over the Bruins. The Eagles were able to close out the set with a 25-17 score, tying the match at 1-1.

The Eagles trailed from the beginning in the third set, however, they decided to slowly creep back in the game and was able to tie it at 24 a-piece with a kill and ace from Barsemian. A couple service errors from each team caused the score to remain tied but the Bruins were able to close out the set with two kills by a close score of 26-28. UCLA continued their momentum and never let up, not allowing CUI to get back into the set after going on a couple runs, closing out the match on the night.

The Eagles will now head on the road next week to take on BYU and Stanford before returning for their next home match Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. against UC Irvine. 

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