Nazareth College (19-14) will be the fourth entrant. Nazareth won the April 9-11 North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Tournament with a 3-0 win over Philadelphia Biblical University in the title match.Carthage vs. Fontbonne Box Score
Carthage vs. MSOE Box Score
The Carthage College men's volleyball team (20-11, 5-1 Midwest-III Volleyball Conference), ranked 15th in the April 6 American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, lost to No. 14 the Milwaukee School of Engineering (18-14), 3-0, on Saturday, April 10 in the championship match of the Midwest-III Volleyball Conference Tournament at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. The Raiders' winning set scores over the Red Men were 30-27, 36-34 and 30-22.
On Friday, April 9, MSOE (17-14) swept the College of Mount St. Joseph (0-23), 3-0, in a semifinal match, with Carthage blanking Fontbonne University (2-14), 3-0, in the other semifinal contest. MSOE's winning set scores over Mount St. Joseph were 30-13, 30-12 and 30-15, while Carthage's winning scores over Fontbonne were 30-19, 30-13 and 30-20. Fontbonne (3-14) defeated Mount St. Joseph (0-24), 3-0, in the Saturday, April 10 consolation match with winning set scores of 30-14, 30-18 and 30-26.
In Carthage's championship-match loss, MSOE broke a 27-27 tie in the first set by taking the last three points for a 30-27 decision. Carthage had a 28-26 lead in the second set. The two teams were tied, 34-34, before the Raiders took the last two points for a 36-34 win. MSOE went ahead to stay, 4-2, in the third and final set. The Raiders led by as much a six points, 17-11 and 18-12, en route to an eight-point victory, 30-22. Max Martin had 19 kills and hit .262 for MSOE, while Glenn Frazee had 13 kills and hit. 360. Randy Hansen (So., Oak Lawn, Ill.) led the Red Men with 11 kills and a .280 attack percentage.
Setter Randy Hansen (So., Oak Lawn, Ill., 3.83 kills per set, .275 attack percentage) and middle blocker Tyler Frings (So., Hubertus, Wis./Milwaukee-Pius XI) were named All-Midwest III Conference.
Carthage plays host to the Molten Championship on Friday-Saturday, April 16-17 at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. The semifinals get underway on Friday, April 16 with fourth-seeded Nazareth College (19-14) playing top-seeded the University of California-Santa Cruz (14-6) in a semifinal match at 5 p.m., and third-seeded Carthage taking on second-seeded Springfield College (17-10) at 8 p.m. in the other semifinal contest. The Saturday, April 17 consolation and championship matches also start at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. As the host team, Carthage received one of the four berths. Nazareth won the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association Tournament. Springfield is the NCAA Division III representative of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA), and UC-Santa Cruz earned an at-large berth.
