Molten Championship Web Site
UC-Santa Cruz 3, Nazareth 0, semifinals
Sprinfield 3, Carthage 0, semifinals
Carthage 3, Nazareth 0, consolation
Springfield 3, UC-Santa Cruz 1, championship

The Carthage College men's volleyball team (21-12), ranked 15th in the April 6 American Volleyball Coaches Association poll, finished its 2010 season on Saturday, April 17 by winning the consolation match of the Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. Carthage swept Nazareth College (19-16), 3-0, with winning set scores of 30-25, 30-21 and 30-26.

The semifinals got underway on Friday with top-seeded and No. 3 the University of California Santa Cruz (15-6) sweeping fourth-seeded Nazareth College (19-15), 3-0. The Banana Slugs' winning set scores over the Golden Flyers were 30-25, 30-27 and 30-25. Second-seeded and No. 2 Springfield College (18-10) swept third seeded and No. 15 Carthage (20-12), 3-0, in the other semifinal contest. The Pride's winning set scores over the Red Men were 30-22, 30-22 and 30-28. Springfield (19-10) defeated UC-Santa Cruz (15-7), 3-1, in the championship match with winning set scores of 23-30, 32-30, 30-26 and 30-22.

In the title match, In the first set, Springfield took a 14-8 lead before UC-Santa Cruz took off on a 9-0 run to take a 17-14 lead. The Banana Slugs extended their lead to 21-16, en route to a seven-point win, 30-23. The second set was close all the way, with neither team leading by more than three points. The set was tied, 30-30, before the Pride won the final two points for a 32-30 decision. The third set was more of the same, with neither team able to pull away. Springfield finally took a 21-16 lead. UC-Santa Cruz cut the margin to two points, 24-22, but the Pride went on to win by four, 30-26. In the fourth and final set, Springfield opened up a 10-5 lead and extended that to 25-13. UC-Santa Cruz got as close as seven points, 29-22, before the Pride put the set away at 30-22. Springfield's Alberto Bravo had a tournament-high 24 kills and hit .250 (24-9-60), while A.J. Nally had 20 kills with a .308 attack percentage (20-8-39). Austin Einhorn led the Banana Slugs with 13 kills and hit .478 (13-2-23.

Springfield's Alberto Bravo was named the tournament MVP. Teammates Eric Shoemaker and A.J. Nally were also named to the all-tournament team, along with Sal La Cavera III and Austin Einhorn from UC-Santa Cruz, Randy Hansen from Carthage and Hans Schroder from Nazareth.

In Carthage's win over Nazareth in the consolation match, the first set was close most of the way. Carthage broke a 12-12 tie with a 9-3 run to take a 21-15 lead. Nazareth closed to within three on several occasions, including 28-25, but the Red Men took the final two points for a 30-25 decision. Carthage opened up a 17-12 lead in the second set. The Golden Flyers pulled to within three, 20-17, before the Red Men went up by six, 23-17, en route to a nine-point win, 30-21. In the third and final set, Carthage was leading by one point, 15-14, when the Red Men broke the match open with a five-point run to take a six-point lead, 20-14. Carthage went on to win by four, 30-26.

Randy Hansen (So., Oak Lawn, Ill.) led the Red Men with 14 kills and a .407 attack percentage (14-3-27), while Matt Yanz (So., Bolingbrook, Ill./Naperville-Central) had 12 kills and a .500 attack percentage (12-2-20). Tyler Frings (So., Hubertus, Wis./Milwaukee-Pius XI) collected eight blocks (4 solo, 4 assisted). Hans Schroeder topped the Golden Flyers with 16 kills while hitting .357 (16-6-28), and Ellis Walsh had 11 kills and hit .450 (11-2-20).

In the semifinals, California-Santa Cruz broke a 4-4 tie in the first set and never trailed. Nazareth was behind by only a point, 15-14, before the Banana Slugs used an 8-2 run to go up by seven points, 23-16. UC-Santa Cruz went on to win by five, 30-25. In the second set, the Golden Flyers had leads of 24-21 and 25-24 slip away, as UC-Santa Cruz tied things up at 25-25 before taking the lead, to stay, 26-25, and going on to win by three, 30-27. In the third and final set, Nazareth had an early 10-9 lead, and the set was tied at 22-22. The Banana Slugs took the lead, to stay, 23-22, and went on to win by five points, 30-25.

American Volleyball Coaches fist-team All-American Justin Lam led UC-Santa Cruz with 17 kills and hit. 464 (17-4-28). Eric Rowell had 11 kills and hit .250 (11-4-28) with three block assists, while AVCA second-team All-American Salvatore La Cavera had 10 kills and hit .444 (10-2-18). Hans Schroeder topped Nazareth with 10 kills and a .292 attack percentage (10-3-24), while Ellis Walsh had nine kills and hit .400 (9-1-20).

In the Carthage-Springfield semifinal match, Springfield jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first set Carthage closed to within three, 13-10. The Red Men trailed by one point, 18-17, before the Pride upped their lead to 22-18. Springfield pulled away to a 27-19 edge en route to an eight-point decision, 30-22. In the second set, Carthage had an early 8-7 lead. Springfield went up, 16-11. The Red Men closed to within three, 18-15, before the Pride pulled away to a 27-19 lead, en route to another eight-point win, 30-22. Springfield opened up a 13-8 lead in the third set before Carthage ran off six unanswered points to take a 14-13 lead. The Red Men led, 18-15, when the Pride ran off five-straight points to go up, 20-18. Springfield extended its lead to 23-19. Carthage rallied to pull to within one, 28-27, and again at one, 29-28, before Springfield won the final point for a 30-28 win.

AVCA NCAA Division III “Player of the Year” A.J. Nally led Springfield with 14 kills and a .233 attack percentage (14-7-30). Cal Palumbo had 13 kills and hit .524 (13-2-21) with one block solo and six block assists, while Alberto Bravo also had 13 kills. Matt Wallace (Jr., Plainfield, Ill./Naperville-Neuqua Valley) led the Red Men with 14 kills and a .379 attack percentage (14-3-29), while Randy Hansen (So., Oak Lawn, Ill.) had 10 kills.

“Springfield was as good as we thought they'd be,” said Carthage coach L.J. Marx “Their experience was a huge factor, and our boys basically ran into some men. Springfield didn't struggle in tough situations. We didn't go away, particularly in the third set. Springfield really has some horsepower with four AVCA All-Americans and some big guys. We're a little smaller and speed-oriented. Sometimes when speed matches up to size, it doesn't match up very well. They played like I thought they would, so I wasn't surprised. Our guys really enjoyed playing here tonight and having all of the attention. This tournament is for them, so that was great. Tomorrow will still be fun, and we have a great opportunity to end our season with a win. It should be a good match against Nazareth."

Now in its 14th year, the Molten Championship was formed due to a need for a culminating event for NCAA Division III men's volleyball. 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 40-year history of the NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship, no Division III program has earned a berth or been selected to participate in the NCAA Men's Volleyball Championship.