Carthage College Athletics

After returning just two-of-nine letterwinners from the 2008 team, the 2009 Carthage College men’s volleyball team (8-25, 4-0 Midwest-III Volleyball Conference) was probably due for a re-building year. Since launching the varsity program in 2005, head coach L.J. Marx (80-70, 5 years) compiled winning seasons in three of his first four years, including appearances at the 2005 and 2007 Molten Championships.

After going 3-4 over their first seven matches, Carthage lost five in a row, defeated the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Feb. 3 and then lost a school-record 15-straight matches between Feb. 10 and March 17. The Red Men recovered late in the season, winning four of their last five matches, and winning the Midwest-III Conference Tournament. Carthage swept the Milwaukee School of Engineering (10-19, 2-2 M-III), 3-0, in the title match. The Red Men’s winning set scores over the Raiders were 30-18, 30-25 and 30-26. MSOE swept Fontbonne University (0-19, 0-4 M-III), 3-0, in a semifinal match. MSOE’s winning set scores over Fontbonne were 30-13, 30-26 and 30-28. The 2009 season marked the second year of competition for the three-team league.

Five members of the Carthage team were named All-Midwest-III Conference. Those five were Randy Hansen (Fr., Oak Lawn, Ill., 3.22 kills per game), Tim Walker (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette University High School, .433 attack percentage, 2.30 kills per game, 0.83 blocks per game), Matt Yanz (Fr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Naperville-Central, .306 attack percentage, 2.02 kills per game, 1.08 blocks per game), Tom O’Connell (So., Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice, 2.65 kills per game, 0.73 blocks per game) and Eric Ball (Jr., Naperville, Ill./North, 2.74 kills per game). Hansen was also named M-III “Player of the Year” and “Freshman of the Year.”

Carthage ended the regular season ranked 13th in the Bison/American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll. Juniata College (14-7, 16 first-place votes) was ranked first in the in the poll, followed by the Stevens Institute of Technology (25-6) second, the University of California-Santa Cruz (13-9) third, Springfield College (14-8) fourth, Nazareth College (28-5) fifth, Rivier College (33-2) sixth, New York University (9-19) seventh, Vassar College (19-8) eighth, Philadelphia Biblical University (21-12) ninth, Ramapo College (24-7) 10th, Baruch College (35-10) 11th, Endicott College (22-12) 12th, Carthage College (8-25) 13th, the Milwaukee School of Engineering (10-19) 14th and Eastern Mennonite University (14-18) ranked 15th.

While the NCAA sponsors a national championship for men’s volleyball, programs from all three divisions compete for just four berths in the yearly tournament. In the 33-year history of the men’s tournament, no NCAA Division III program has ever been selected to participate in the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship. The Molten Championship was started in 1997 in order to create a culminating event for NCAA Division III men’s volleyball. Springfield College, the host school for the 2008 event in Springfield, Mass., receives one berth in the four-team event, along with the winners of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) and the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA). One at-large team from either the Midwest or West regions will complete the four-team field.

Forty-eight NCAA Division III schools sponsored men’s volleyball as a varsity sport in 2008-09. Once the 50-team threshold has been reached, the NCAA is expected to add a Division III championship, possibly in 2010-11.