After two years of patiently awaiting the completion of the transition from NAIA to NCAA, Concordia is now ready to compete as full members of the NCAA Division II, PacWest Conference. This means it is now an exciting time to go and support the great range of teams on campus looking for postseason success. To celebrate Concordia’s full NCAA membership, the school will be hosting the “NCAA Kick Off Celebration” on Sat., Sept. 16, 2017.

The celebration begins at 3 p.m. on the Grimm Student Union Patio & Commons Lawn. The celebration will feature live music, food and fun for all ages! Enjoy FREE food samples from a variety of local restaurants like Chick- Fil-A, University Town Center, Asian Box and Gina's Pizza. Special "Concordia Cookout" meals will be available for purchase. Enjoy live music from a variety of student led bands, all while celebrating our official NCAA membership.

The NCAA Kick Off Celebration will then roll over to the CU Arena where the Women’s Volleyball Team will take on old GSAC rival, Biola, in the team’s first conference game of the year. The game that begins at 5 p.m. is free for all Concordia students, and will feature free giveaways.

The women’s team is coming off a hugely successful 2016 campaign in which the team finished 26-3. This year’s team was again selected to repeat as PacWest conference champions after claiming 189 votes in the PacWest Preseason Poll, narrowly edging out conference rival Cal Baptist who polled 179 votes. The 2017 team enters the season with a number of key returners from last year’s winners. The returners are led by PacWest All-Preseason selection Rachel Flynn. The senior outside hitter tallied 438 kills and a .272 hitting percentage during her junior campaign with 4.02 kills per set. Other key returners include sophomore opposite/ middle blocker, Cindy Tran who is coming off a fantastic freshman season where she registered 215 kills and had a hitting percentage of .226.

Tran said, “Our team is very close like one big family and we are all very excited to compete in the postseason this year.” Another key returner is junior setter Erica Anthony. Anthony moves into a larger role this year and has begun the season in the team’s starting lineup. When asked what the students would enjoy most about watching her team’s Courtesy of cuieagles.com games, Anthony said that the students would enjoy the fast-paced offense and positive team energy. The team is excited to build off of last year’s success, capture another conference championship and move deep into postseason play. There is no better way to kick off PacWest conference play than to celebrate Concordia’s full NCAA eligibility whilst enjoying live music, free food, merchandise giveaways and coming out to support the women’s team as they strive for their first PacWest conference win of the year.

Mo Roberson, Director of Athletics, said, "We want everyone to be a part of the NCAA Division II celebration this Sat., Sept. 16. This event is for the entire institution as we celebrate Concordia University Irvine being an official member of the NCAA. We hope you can join us!" GO EAGLES!

Tags: NCAA

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