IRVINE, Calif. -- In the midst of spring break, the Concordia men's volleyball team did anything but vacation as the Eagles went to work and came away with a pair of wins to move to 10-10 on the season.
Concordia 3, Westcliff 1
The Eagles saw a new line-up hit the floor against the Warriors, giving many opportunities to players to showcase their talents. Multiple Concordia players made their mark, setting career-highs while playing in different situations.
Junior Jonathan Carlson got into the game, making his first appearance as a setter for two sets, racking up 24 assists, five digs, and four blocks. His classmate Logan Glave was efficient at the pins, putting down a personal-best of nine kills while hitting .375. Redshirt freshman Mason Mullins earned his first start and had seven kills and seven blocks while Keegan Carey got in with five kills, three digs, and an ace.
Westcliff led early 11-15 but an eventual 6-0 run by Concordia put the Eagles ahead 21-18. Darcy Taig put down one of his four kills to end the first set. CUI took a 10-9 lead in the second but could not overcome multiple WU runs that resulted in the Warriors taking set two 25-20.
Owen Chun served five straight to put CUI up 13-5 in the third, eventually with the Eagles running away 25-15 after back-to-back blocks from Carlson and Mullins. A block and kill from Chun opened up a 16-10 lead in set four. The Eagles used the hot-hand of freshman JT DeMure who put down five kills and an ace to close out the match.
Concordia 3, UC Santa Cruz 1
Later in the day, Concordia saw many new players contribute to its winning ways. Senior Darcy Taig put down a season-high 11 kills and hit .471 and Carey continued to succeed, collecting eight kills and eight digs. Noah Lassandro led the way with five blocks (three solos) and four kills while Chun hit .600 with seven kills.
The Eagles forced heavy pressure all-around to start the match, getting ahead 13-4. DeMure went back to serve and tagged the back line for an ace, followed by forcing an UCSC overpass which Lassandro crushed to the sideline to make the score 18-6 CUI. Carey, Carlson, and Chun each contributed points to score the final five points ending the set at 25-10.
Scrappy play from the Banana Slugs earned them a set two victory but the Eagles would bounce back in the third. Zachary Meyer checked in with five kills on eight errorless swings to put his team in a good offensive rhythm. CUI scored six of the final seven points to take the 25-17 set win.
Concordia led by as much as six in the fourth at 16-10, before UC Santa Cruz would fight back and tie it up. Chun delivered a kill from the middle to give the Eagles match point and finished it off to end the night.
The Eagles host a pair of matches next week as they host MPSF-foe USC on Wednesday, Mar. 12 and Jamestown on Thursday, Mar. 13, both at 7 p.m. in CU Arena. For the full men's volleyball schedule, click here.
