The Carthage College men's volleyball team (2-1, 0-0 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League), ranked No. 5 in the 2015 American Volleyball Coaches Association pre-season NCAA Division III poll, blanked Trinity International University (Ill.) (0-2) and Hannibal-LaGrange University (3-4), 3-0, in a triangular contest on Saturday, Jan. 24, at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis.  Carthage's winning set scores over Trinity were 25-7, 25-12, and 25-11.  Carthage later defeated Hannibal-LaGrange 25-23, 25-14, and 25-20. Hannibal-LaGrange defeated Trinity in the neutral site match 25-18, 25-17, and 25-10.
 
In the match against Trinity, Carthage opened the first set with a kill by Jon Storm (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley). The Red Men kept their attack strong and took a 13-point lead over the Trojans, 18-5, with a kill by J.P. Tulacka (Jr., Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove-North). Carthage finished the first set off, 25-7, with a service ace by Storm. In the second set, Trinity kept the match close in the beginning trailing by just two points at 8-6, however, the Red Men created a six-point lead, 16-10, with a kill by Matt Ciaglia (Sr., Roselle, Ill./Lake Park West). Carthage continued to capitalize on their lead and a kill by Ryan Paull (So., Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice) closed the second set 25-12. The Red Men took a commanding lead in the third, opening with a seven-point lead at 8-1. Kills by Matt Klingspohn (Sr., Glendale, Wis./Nicolet) created leads of 12-4 and 19-10. Carthage then took the set and the game, 25-11, closing with a kill by Paull.
 
"We are a team in development. We lost five seniors from last year, so we have a lot of new faces in a lot of new positions. It's a work in progress," said head coach L.J. Marx
 
The Red Men got off to a slow start in the match against Hannibal-LaGrange. The score remained tied for the majority of the first against the Trojans. Kills by Will Craft (Jr., Crete, Ill./Chicago Heights-Marian Catholic) kept the score tied at 8-8 and 13-13. Never pulling ahead by more than one point, a kill from Griffin Shields (So., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) tied the score up at 20-20 and allowed Carthage to take the go ahead point at 21-20 with a block by Scotty Adamczyk (Jr., Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South). The Red Men continued to take command of the set and pulled ahead to 24-21 with a block from Tulacka, however, the Trojans battled back and came within one point of Carthage at 24-23. A kill by Tulacka sealed a first set victory for the Red Men, 25-23.
 
Carthage came out strong in the second set and had three kills in a row from Tulacka, Shields, and Craft to create a five-point lead at 10-5. Libero, Cody Bolan (So., Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North), set up the 10-5 point for Craft after he made a diving-save and getting one hand under the ball to keep the Red Men point alive. Carthage further capitalized, creating leads of 17-10 and 21-12. A kill by Shields brought the score to 24-14 and a block by Ciaglia and Shields closed out the second set for the Red Men, 25-14. Hannibal-LaGrange kept things interesting in the third set leading Carthage at 8-9 and 15-17. The Red Men kept battling back and took a lead at 19-18 with a block from Shields and Ciaglia. Back-to-back kills from Shields continued to keep Carthage ahead at 22-20 until a block by Tyler Saieg (So., Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove-North) concluded the set and the match at 25-20.
 
"Griffin [Shields] is coming along very well. His size and length obviously help him out a ton being 6-8, continued Marx, "He's transitioned a lot as we made him a right side when he was a middle throughout high school and club. Last year was a pretty big learning curve for him and some of the work is starting to pay off for him."
 
Shields led Carthage against Trinity with a .167 hitting percentage, six kills, and five blocks, while teammates Tulacka, Storm, and Paull each had five kills. Saeig collected 22 assists and two digs for the Red Men. David Priest led the Trojans with six kills. In the match against Hannibal-LaGrange, Shields along with teammate Craft led Carthage each with 11 kills. Shields had a .318 attacking percentage and seven blocks, while Saeig collected 30 assists and four digs. Gillian Octave led the Trojans with eight kills.
 
"We know Juniata is a very good team. They've knocked us out of our season the last couple years and right now they are ranked No. 1 in the country. They are a big physical team and have five returning starters and four returning All-Americans, so we know it's going to be a challenge," said Coach Marx, "But it's going to come down to the unique thing about volleyball, that the other team can't steal the ball from us and they can't interfere with our offense like in other sports. It truly comes down to being efficient on our side of the court and worrying about us as opposed to worrying about them."
 
Carthage plays host to No. 1 Juniata College (6-0) on Saturday, Jan. 31, in a 1 p.m. match at Tarble Arena.