IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine men's volleyball team fought a tough match against Benedictine Mesa on Thursday taking them to five sets. The Redhawks were able to come out with a five set win over the Golden Eagles with scores 16-25, 25-22, 18-25, 25-17, and 11-15.
 
The MPSF Defensive Player of the Week Jacob Reilly continues to impress as he was all over the court scooping up 17 digs. Setters Nathan Biteau and Makai Lipson shared the court tonight as they both put up 20 assists with Lipson entering the match in his season debut. The duo had a combined nine digs throughout the match.
 
Middles are still a force on the court as they all hit above .250 on the match. Seniors Gil Herold and Mason Mullins started for CUI and had six and four kills respectively. Sophomore Maxwell McCullough came into the game and made an immediate impact with two kills and two blocks that came at critical times for the Green and Gold.
 
Uriel Batista led CUI with 22 kills and collecting seven digs while Johnny Anselmo added another seven and three. Scott Montez, Kobe Kiley, and Slater Fuhrman came into the game and each tallied at least one kill and a dig.
 
In the first set the Redhawks went on a couple runs that allowed them to spread apart from the Golden Eagles and ran with it until the end. CUI came back fighting in the second and was able to hold on to tie the match at one each.
 
The third set went in favor of Benedictine Mesa as they held CUI from going on any runs more than three points. The Green and Gold came out into the fourth again fighting for the match and Anselmo went on a seven point run with help from the Redhawks errors to jump out with a 9-2 lead. McCullough's serving was able to push the Golden Eagles to the end and a kill from Herold sealed the win to force a fifth deciding set.
 
The fifth set went back-and-forth between the two teams and three kills for BEMU led to a side switch at 5-8. Batista tried to get the momentum back on the Green and Gold side with a couple kills but the Redhawks closed out the set by a close 11-15 score.
 
The Golden Eagles move to 4-4 on the season and will compete against The Master's Friday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in the CU Arena before going on the road to play No. 1 Hawaii in back-to-back nights.
 
To see the full CUI men's volleyball schedule click HERE.