When the final point of the season is signaled in the coming days, we can close the book on the seventh season in Carthage men's varsity volleyball history. With a sixth conference title in hand and a postseason that appears likely to include a fourth appearance in the Molten Championship, things could not be much brighter for coach L.J. Marx's program.

           A good case can be made that it will be brighter.

           It will be hard to wait till next year, because the Red Men will enter the season aspiring to become the National Collegiate Athletic Association's first Division III men's volleyball champion. On January 15, the NCAA approved the addition of Division III volleyball for its 89th championship sport. Currently, the only men's NCAA national volleyball championship tournament that is attainable for Division III schools is the same one in which Division I and II schools compete. The NCAA has sponsored a men's championship since 1970.

           “I'm a little surprised it took this long (for an NCAA Division III tournament to be created),” says Marx, who in 2003 started the program with a club team and who since has been AVCA NCAA Division III “Men's Coach of the Year” and Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association “Division III Coach of the Year” in 2005 and 2007. “It seemed like when we added our program, the East Coast had a ton more programs than we did (in the Midwest) and they were adding fairly quickly. What happened about four or five years ago, was there would be two programs that would add and then three that would drop, and then four that would add and three that would drop. So we stayed in a stagnant number for two or three years. Then in the last two years, it started growing again on the East Coast, it started picking up again a little bit, which put us over the 50 (schools needed for an NCAA tournament).”

           Tyler Frings, a junior middle blocker from Hubertus, Wis., is understandably enthusiastic about the progress the sport is making.

           “It's awesome,” says Frings, an exercise and sport science major who, through March 20, led the nation with 1.38 blocks per set. “It shows that the game has grown. I'd say behind men's and women's lacrosse, volleyball is right on their heels as far as growing in popularity and schools adding it. I think that just shows even more that the game is getting attention and that it helps open the door to allow a lot more teams a lot more of a competitive level and more schools to shine and get their name out there.

           “Right now, with the way the postseason is set up, you only get four teams. You don't really get to see everybody else that's also deserving of being in that national championship spotlight. So I think that's awesome what they're doing. The growth of the game is excellent.”

           As Marx explains the Molten tournament setup — and this is the extremely short version — the berths are awarded as follows: one to the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, one to the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association, one from among the six schools from the West/Midwest, and the host school.

           “Basically, one team from western Pennsylvania to the coast of California gets picked,” Marx says. “Very large geographical area; there are six (Division III) programs in that area.”

           Marx sets up his schedule with a number of schools that reside in Division I, such as Loyola (Ill.), Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne, Lewis and Quincy (the latter two schools play the rest of their sports at the Division II level). Those tests provide a measuring stick. 

           “When we go play those (Division I) schools, it gives us a chance to see how we stack up against some of the best players in the country,” says Mike Bynon, a junior libero from Burnt Hills, N.Y. “We get a lot out of that. We go to Loyola every year. They have a top Division I program. Last year we played Ohio State. They have a top Division I program. Arne Ball, who is the coach at IPFW, his son is one of the greatest volleyball players in USA history, and just to go play against one of his teams is a great thing. It's not an opportunity that a lot of D III players get.

           “The difference between level of play is not as much as people would think it is. Last year we beat IPFW at IPFW. We have the ability. Through the years we've taken some really good teams to really good matches. It gives us a chance to see how we stack up and what we need to work on to become a high-level volleyball team.”

           All the work has resulted in the Red Men being ranked third in the March 22 AVCA Division III poll. They won the Midwest-III Conference title with an 8-0 record. Carthage plays its final Tarble Arena match of the season against King College (Tenn.), an NAIA school, March 30 at 7 p.m., then heads to Thiel College in Greenville, Pa., for the conference tournament April 1-2.

           It is not a certainty the Red Men will be invited to the Molten Championship, but they have a résumé that is hard to beat. The conference championship helps, but so, to, does an impressive three-day stretch in New York at the end of February in which they won 15 of 18 sets and went 5-0 in matches. That was part of a 13-match winning streak.

           “Essentially — and history has dictated this since we've started our program — the West/Midwest representative has either been us or the University of California-Santa Cruz,” Marx says. “We played (UC Santa Cruz) and beat them. We have won all of the other Division III matches that are within that West/Midwest region. So we're in the driver's seat right now. The Midwest-III Conference tournament, as long as we take care of business and hold our seed, we'll be the team that's selected to go to the championship again this year, which is what we had set out to do from the beginning of the season.”

           On Feb. 25, Carthage won at seventh-ranked New York University, 3-1. Then came a sweep in the Baruch tournament, beating fourth-ranked California-Santa Cruz (3-1) and ninth-ranked Baruch (3-0) on Feb. 26, then Newbury (3-0) and eighth-ranked Rivier (3-1)  on Feb. 27.

           “It was crazy,” says Bynon, an exercise and sport science major who was 20th in the country with 2.43 digs per set. “We not only had to beat Santa Cruz, but we had to take at least two other matches off really good teams to not make it look like we went in and got lucky against Santa Cruz. Because Santa Cruz is also going to be playing those common opponents.

           “It's a full body of work when it comes down to the at-large bid. So that was important for us, and our two biggest matches were back-to-back, right next to each other.

           “We came together as a team. We were so tired at the end of that weekend, but we came out of it and were really successful.”

           Bynon and Frings are perhaps the most interesting components of Marx's roster, about two-thirds of which is made up of Illinoisans. Bynon is the lone player who is not from the Midwest. Frings is one of three players from the Milwaukee area.

           “Mike, he basically just kind of did what I guess most parents would hope that their children would do searching for a college,” Marx says. “He understood what he wanted to major in and he wanted to play men's volleyball. He kind of had a framework for what type of school he was looking for, so he found matches for that. Carthage was one of the matches. He was looking for a physical education major in a teaching environment. He wanted a men's volleyball program, did not want to be in a big city, wanted a smaller school. We fit that criteria.

           “He came out and visited, and fell in love with the school, and the rest is kind of history.”

           The atmosphere on campus was what helped Bynon decide on Carthage.

           “I come from a long line of physical education teachers and coaches,” Bynon says with a laugh. “My great grandfather, my grandfather, my father, they're all coaches and physical education teachers. Since I was a little kid I always wanted to be a gym teacher.

           “There aren't many D III volleyball schools to start with. Volleyball is really something I wanted to do. I called some Division I schools and they asked me to walk on.

           “I decided that I wanted to make more of an impact in college, and with my father and other volleyball coaches that I had been around in high school I wanted a good fit. It came down to here and Springfield (Mass.) College, who we played last year in the national semifinals.

           “They both have real good physical education programs, they both have men's volleyball, they both have really successful men's volleyball, which is another thing I was looking at.

           “When I got onto campus, the people here were just friendly, helpful. Sat down with advisors, sat down with L.J., of course, and just talked. L.J. and I really connected, and we still do. We still talk. I can just go in his office and just talk. Not even volleyball, but just talk. I thought that that was something that I really, really thought was really important. If I was going to spend the next four years with someone and a program, that the place that I really felt comfortable and felt accepted was important, and that was what I felt here.”

           Marx would welcome more players from outside the Midwest, but understands there are obstacles to overcome. 

           “I do explore players on the East Coast, the West Coast,” Marx says. “The challenge with the West Coast is, there's the thing called snow around here that most kids from Southern California aren't real fond of. As far as the East Coast, there's a lot of programs in that area. So getting them to look at Carthage as an option of something that's very similar to what they have around them that would be closer is kind of the same thing as athletes from any other sport that look at Carthage. Most Division III athletes want to be in that range where they're close enough to home where they can get home on a weekend if they need to, but far enough away that mom and dad can't show up on a random Saturday morning unannounced.

           “Getting guys from the East Coast to come out here and play volleyball, they're going to be passing on 30 schools that fit that same mold, but are in that range of close to home but not far away, where we're far away. That's why we don't see it typically. I look at kids, we explore options. Typically, they just don't materialize to guys on your roster.”          

           Frings' journey to Carthage was anything but direct. His mom, who played at Kansas State, was his grade school coach at St. Mary's in Menomonee Falls. He watched and played at Bradford Beach in Milwaukee, with the North Shore Milwaukee Volleyball Club and four years at Milwaukee Pius XI High School.

           “I got a love for it,” Frings says. “I ended up quitting basketball my senior year so that I could focus on volleyball and try and go play somewhere, and that's when the doors opened up for Carthage. L.J. saw me, kind of in the backyard of Kenosha.

           “I did a few trips. I went to Lewis University, which is Division II. I went to Lees-McRae, which is in Banner Elk, N.C, Me and my dad flew into Charlotte and drove three and one-half hours through Hickory and Asheville, finally came into the mountains, into Banner Elk, to actually tour this Division II school. I turned to him, I think about day three of the trip, right before we left and I said, 'We need to get back to Carthage, we need to get home and talk to L.J.'

           “As you know, tons of kids come from Chicago, but he saw something in me in Milwaukee, and got me interested in Carthage. If it wasn't for L.J., I don't know if I would have come to Carthage, but he's definitely a player's coach, and he's a huge instrument in why I'm having success at Carthage and why I'm enjoying my time at Carthage.”