PHOENIX, Ariz. – The Concordia University Irvine men's volleyball team continued MPSF play against No. 5 Grand Canyon Friday night and picked up their first conference win. The Golden Eagles took down GCU in a five set thriller with scores 25-23, 25-23, 25-27, and 9-15 while handing the Lopes their second loss of the season and in conference play.

 
Freshman Gage Doble was unstoppable at the net as he led the Golden Eagles with 22 kills while hitting a .600 with only one error. Doble's kills came at critical points for CUI that kept them in the game and continue momentum in their favor. Johnny Anselmo was another key contributor as he finished with a hitting percentage of .429 and eight kills. Uriel Batista played on the right and added 17 kills for the Green and Gold.

 
Middle Gil Herold impressed the front row with eight kills and only one error hitting a .636. Defensively Herold stopped the Lopes with three solo blocks. Maxwell McCullough had three kills and three blocks including one solo. Makai Lipson dished out 44 assists while libero had tallied three and had five digs.


Each set went the distance as the scores toggled between the two teams during the match. CUI picked up the first two sets by just two points. GCU came back and won the following two taking control of the fourth set.
 

It all came down to the fifth set and Johnny Anselmo went on a five point run to put them at an 8-6 lead at the side switch. The outside hitter served up an ace and an attack error from the Lopes brought CUI to a 10-6 lead. Makai Lipson went to the back line to serve and two kills from Doble and Batista each sealed the victory over Grand Canyon.
 

The Golden Eagles will play against GCU again Saturday Mar. 25 with a 6 p.m. start time. They will continue road play against No. 10 Stanford in back-to-back nights starting Friday Mar. 31 with both times slated for a 7 p.m. start.
 

To see the full CUI men's volleyball schedule click HERE.