#15 Concordia-Irvine Makes Epic Comeback In First-Ever Win Over #2 BYU

MATCH STATS

• #15 Concordia-Irvine def. #2 BYU, 3-2 (19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14)
• CUI improves to 13-13, 4-6 MPSF; BYU falls to 18-5, 8-1 MPSF
• Provo, Utah
• Attendance: 3921
• Box score

PROVO, Utah – Down 0-2 with only 21 kills in the first two sets combined, the Eagles pounded 41 kills and hit over .450 in the final three sets to earn a collection of firsts for the program. Thursday night’s win marked CUI’s first-ever set victory over BYU, their first-ever win over BYU, and their first win over a top-five NCAA I-II victory. Additionally, it was only the third match for the Eagles that have gone the maximum out of 26 matches played.

The Eagles were led by Raymond Barsemian with 18 kills, hitting .438 in the process. Barsemian also contributed 7 digs, 5 blocks and 2 aces to the upset win. Joining him in double-digit kills was Jonathan Predney with 17. Predney’s 9 kills alone in the third set helped start the comeback. Predney also added 5 digs and a team-high 3 aces. Also earning double-digit kills was Darcy Taig with 14, who added 7 digs and 2 blocks. Setter Chandler Gibb ran the offense to a .328 hitting percentage by dishing out 54 assists. He also dug 5 balls and blocked 3 more. Libero Jacob Weiser dug a match-high 11 balls. Middle blocker Hunter Howell led all net defenders in the match with 7 blocks.

For BYU, Brenden Sander was clearly the star of the match with a career-high of 24 kills and a match-high of 4 aces on the night. He hit .455 while adding 4 blocks and 3 digs. Cyrus Fa’alogo added a career-high 15 kills for the Cougars on .414 hitting. Fa’alogo added 8 digs, 2 blocks and an ace. Rounding out the double-digit kill performers for BYU was Gabi Garcia Fernandez with 13, but had a rare night of inefficiency, hitting only .161 against the Eagles. He also had 6 digs, 4 blocks and an ace. Setter Leo Durkin distributed a match-high 57 assists to lead the Cougars to a .357 hitting percentage. Durkin also added 3 digs and 3 blocks on the night. Christian Rupert, in only 4 sets of play, pounded 4 kills and added a team-high 6 blocks Thursday evening. Libero Zach Hendrickson matched his career-high with 10 digs.

PRESS RELEASES

Courtesy of Concordia-Irvine Athletics

PROVO, Utah – The Concordia Men’s Volleyball team made history on Thursday night, coming up with their biggest win in program history. The Eagles traveled to Utah to take on No. 2 BYU in front of the nation’s leader in attendance, where Concordia came out with the upset by coming back from down 2-0 to win 19-25, 16-25, 25-22, 25-21, 16-14.

This was a match of many firsts: Concordia’s first set win over BYU, Concordia’s first overall win over BYU, BYU’s first loss in conference this season and Concordia’s first win over a top five team in NCAA Division I-II.

There were many Eagle contributors to this victory as all players came up big when they needed to. Setter Chandler Gibb made wise decisions to orchestrate the offense to a .328 hitting percentage and tallying himself 54 assists. Raymond Barsemian had 18 kills to lead Concordia while hitting at a .438 clip. Jonathan Predney was right behind with 17 kills and three aces and Darcy Taig put down 14 kills of his own and dug seven attacks. Hunter Howell had a match-high seven blocks, teaming up with Barsemian who had five.

Concordia’s game plan going into tonight’s match was to play scrappy defense and get ahead early. They did exactly that. The Eagles got out to a 7-3 run after Taig collected a kill, Howell teamed up with Barsemian for a block, then followed up with Howell-Gibb block, while Predney served an ace into the back corner. BYU would push themselves back into the set after a 4-0 run to take the lead at 13-12. The Cougars scored five of six points to put themselves ahead 23-18, to then take the next two for the first set.

BYU would do what Concordia did to them in the first, by getting ahead early in the second 11-4. Taig would score four out of the Eagle’s next five points from all sides of the net to put CUI within five, 16-11. The Cougars exterminated every opportunity they could get, but their own errors kept Concordia in the set. Perched at set point 24-14, Barsemian split the block with a kill and Taig tooled the blockers from the right side to keep their fight alive, ultimately for BYU to swing for the set and score.

With their backs against the wall, Concordia had to play consistently in order to extend the match and avoid being swept. The senior Predney came alive, finding success for nine of Concordia’s points in the entire set. He sided-out for the Eagles with a swing from the right side, to bring him back to serve where he collected two kills from the back row and had an ace to bring CUI up 9-5. A 3-0 run put Concordia up by four and Taig delivered a booming kill off a BYU backrow defender into the crowd to put the Eagles up 17-13. Back-to-back kills for the Cougars brought them within one, but CUI was able to maintain the lead and take the set with consecutive kills on the right side from Predney and Taig.

After taking their first ever set from BYU, Concordia had an early 4-3 in the fourth set. A swing from Predney down the line found the arm of a BYU defender for a point and Falduti followed that with a block to tie the set 10-10. The Eagles sparked a mid-set 5-1 run to go up by three at 16-13. Two kills by Barsemian and a Cougar service error put BYU into a timeout with the Eagles ahead 23-20. BYU would then side-out, but Barsemian did as well, tooling the Cougar block and serving an ace in the gap of the BYU passers to send the match to five.

In just their third fifth set match on the season, Concordia got out to an early 3-1 lead after a Predney kill out of the backrow and a Barsemian ace. BYU would respond with a 5-0 run to get ahead 6-3. CUI had an error leading into the side switch at 8-5, but they bounced back with a from Falduti and Predney going back to collect an ace as his serve clipped the net and dropped. Taig did what he did well, which was tooling the block for a kill and Howell and Gibb went up for a block to tie the crucial set at 10-10. Howell executed a slide play with a swing that sent the ball to the floor and Gibb then teamed up with Falduti for a stuff to take a late 13-12 lead. The next set from Gibb would then go to Predney that would fall in front of the Cougar block to earn CUI match point, 14-12. BYU sided-out and Concordia head coach Shawn Patchell would call a timeout to regroup and hope to ice the server. That plan was a success as BYU had a service error and gave the Eagles another match point. Predney served in and the Eagles block slowed down the Cougar attack perfectly for Predney to dig it right to targer and have Gibb reward him for it with a set which he put away to clinch the upset.

Courtesy of BYU Athletics

PROVO, Utah – No. 2 BYU men’s volleyball fell to No. 14 Concordia Irvine (25-19, 25-16, 22-25, 21-25, 16-14) Thursday night at the Smith Fieldhouse.

“It was unfortunate that we let that slip away, especially considering the circumstances,” BYU head coach Shawn Olmstead said. “It’s tough, but hats off to them. They stayed in it and did a good job. They turned the momentum and energy and that’s when it slipped away from us. We’ve got to do better there.”

Brenden Sander led the team with a career-high 24 kills. He also added four blocks, four service aces and three digs. Cyrus Fa’alogo had a career-high 15 kills and eight digs. Leo Durkin led the team with 57 assists, while recording three digs and three blocks. Zach Hendrickson matched his career best with 10 digs.

The Cougars (18-5, 8-1 MPSF) trailed 3-1 early in the fifth set before answering with two kills by Sander and back-to-back blocks by Durkin and Miki Jauhiainen to take a 6-3 lead. BYU fought to stay on top, but the Eagles (13-13, 4-6 MPSF) evened the game at 10-all after a BYU attack error.

Another attack error by the Cougars gave back the lead to Concordia Irvine, 13-12. A block by Christian Rupert and Gabi Garcia Fernandez tied the game at 14-all. A BYU service error and a kill gave the Eagles the set and match, 16-14.

Despite the Cougars taking an early 3-1 lead in the first set, Concordia Irvine answered with a 6-0 run to take a 7-3 advantage. After trailing, BYU went on a 6-1 run that included three attack errors by the Eagles to take back the lead, 13-12. A kill by Fernandez and a block by Sander and Rupert extended the Cougar lead to 20-17. Back-to-back kills by Fa’alogo gave BYU the set, 25-19.

In the second set, two kills by Fernandez and a service ace by Sander gave the Cougars an early 5-2 advantage. Four-straight kills by three different players extended the BYU lead to 11-4. A Fa’alogo kill sent the Cougars on a 3-0 run to keep BYU on top, 20-12.

A service error by Concordia Irvine was followed by a Sander kill and an attack error by the Eagles to put the set at set point, 24-14. After two-consecutive points by Concordia Irvine, a kill by Sander gave BYU set two, 25-16.

In set three, the Eagles took the first two points for an early lead. With the set even at 5-all, Concordia Irvine scored four-straight to stay on top, 9-5. The Cougars answered with kills by Sander and Jauhiainen to cut the deficit down to two-points, 10-8.

After falling behind 20-15 in the third set, BYU rallied for three-straight points to bring the score to 20-18 for the Eagles. Back-to-back kills by Rupert put the Cougars within one, 22-21. Concordia Irvine went on to take set three, 25-22.

In set four, two-consecutive service aces by Sander gave BYU an early 3-2 advantage. Neither team was able to put together a run larger than two points in the following possessions. With the Cougars on top 12-11, the Eagles went on a 3-0 run to take a 14-12 lead and force a BYU timeout.

Errors by Concordia Irvine kept BYU within one, 18-17. The Eagles managed to stay on top and a service ace would give them set four, 25-21.