IRVINE, Calif. – With the second half of MPSF play beginning, every game has become a crucial one for the No. 13 Concordia men's volleyball team. The Eagles played host to USC on Wednesday, with the chance to sweep the series with the Trojans for just the second time in three years. CUI saw itself down 0-2 on its home court but bounced back to earn the reverse sweep winning 17-15 in the fifth.
"It was just belief," said junior
Jonathan Carlson. "We stuck with it and believed and turned it around. You have your off days and you have your on days and we were off the first two sets. We righted the ship and persevered and proved we were the better team at the end of the night. It was a fun win, definitely a little scary down 2-0, but it was definitely a good team win."
A top performer for the night was
Jordan Hoppe, who pulled himself out from a slow start to lead the team with 21 kills, nine digs, and hit .333.
Raymond Barsemian scored 20 points on the night to follow Hoppe, putting down 16 kills, four blocks, and two aces.
"I thought Jordan was phenomenal," said CUI head coach
Shawn Patchell. "He passed really well, he hit at a good clip and it was really balanced between those three guys and (McLain) Mott found them and did a nice job as a freshman setter finding the right guys."
Carlson used his all-around game to contribute on the court, collecting 11 digs to go along with nine kills, putting him one kill shy of a double-double. He along with Hoppe, and
Addison Enriques, each split the court, putting up impressive passing numbers. Enriques also was efficient on defense with a match-high 16 digs.
Securing playing time for a large portion of the season is junior
Owen Chun, the left-hander who traditionally plays as an opposite, but has seen a majority of the time in the middle.
"Owen's playing a new position and it's exciting to see him improve," said Patchell. "His learning curve is pretty steep and he's doing a great job. 13 points from your middle blocker in double digits that's big for us and it takes some pressure off guys like Ray and Jordan.
Chun set a career-high with 12 kills and was in one two blocks on the night, to lead all middles in the match.
"The entire time we were just playing until they stop us," said Chun. "It was really nerve wrecking at times, but I was glad I was able to contribute and do what I could."
The Trojans opened up the match with back-to-back 25-22 set victories, close sets that featured nine ties. In set one, the Eagles had equal distribution of two or more kills from five players but it was not enough to handle the Trojans.
In the third, the Eagles split the only tie of the set at 1-1, to eventually go on a 5-1 run to get ahead 17-10. Concordia benefited from 14 USC errors to take the set 25-19.
Moving on to the fourth, it was a highlight set for Hoppe as he put down five kills with no errors on eight tries and had five digs. Mott set his team to a .394 hitting percentage, the best of all sets to be played on the night. The Eagles scored on a kill from Chun and a Barsemian ace that dropped in front of the USC libero to earn set point. The Trojans fought off a pair but served wide to send it to a fifth set.
Both times fired away in the fifth, with CUI only getting ahead by as much as two. Barsemian put down a pair of kills to lead 10-8. Hoppe earned two kills to give the Eagles match point at 14-13 and 15-14. The Eagles sided out right away after the Trojans tied it up at 15-all after Barsemian hammered it down the line. Hoppe got his serve in and the Concordia block got a controlled touch to put the team in transition where Hoppe tore the Trojans block out of bounds for the win.
The Eagles ended the night 11-10 overall and 3-4 in MPSF play.
For the full CUI men's volleyball schedule, click here.
