  A two-phase description of the quark-nuclear matter hybrid equation of state
that takes into account the effect of excluded volume in both the hadronic and
the quark matter phases is introduced.
  The nuclear phase manifests a reduction of the available volume as density
increases, leading to a stiffening of the matter. The quark matter phase
displays a reduction of the effective string tension in the confining density
functional from available volume contributions. The nuclear equation of state
is based upon the relativistic density functional model DD2 with excluded
volume. The quark matter is based upon a mean-field modification to the free
fermi gas and will be discussed in greater detail. The interactions are
decomposed into mean scalar and vector components. The scalar interaction is
motivated by a string potential between quarks, whereas the vector interaction
potential is motivated by higher order interactions of quarks leading to an
increased stiffening at high densities. As an application, we consider matter
under compact star constraints of electric neutrality and $\beta$-equilibrium.
We obtain mass-radius relations for hybrid stars that form a third family,
disconnected from the purely hadronic star branch, and fulfill the $2M_\odot$
constraint.
