The Carthage College men's volleyball team (3-2, 1-0 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League), ranked No. 5 in the Feb. 3 American Volleyball Coaches Association pre-season NCAA Division III poll, opened conference play by defeating Benedictine University (Ill., 2-5, 0-1 MCVL), 3-1, on Saturday Feb. 7 at the Tarble Arena. The winning set scores for the Red Men were 21-25, 25-16, 25-18, and 25-18.
 
Carthage got off to a slow start in the first set with Benedictine opening the match with a 5-1 lead. However, the Red Men were able to tie the score back at 5-5, with a kill from Will Craft (Jr., Crete, Ill./Chicago Heights-Marian Catholic). The score remained close throughout the first half with scores if 7-7 and 10-10, until the Eagles created a five-point lead over the Red Men at 10-15. Carthage battled back and pulled within two-points of Benedictine at 17-19 with a kill by Scotty Adamczyk (Jr., Park Ridge, Ill./Maine South). The Eagles continued to pull ahead and closed out the first set 25-21.
 
In the second, the Red Men created quick leads of 9-5 and 15-8 with kills from Craft. Carthage continued to capitalize on their lead over Benedictine by keeping their offense strong and pulling ahead by 10-points, 20-10, with a kill by Zach Lillig (Fr., Northbrook, Ill./Glenbrook North). The Red Men continued to maintain control and took the second set 25-16. Carthage opened up the third set with a three-point lead, 9-6, over Benedictine with a kill by J.P. Tulacka (Jr., Westmont, Ill./Downers Grove-North). The Eagles pulled within one point at 11-10, but the Red Men responded with a kill by Jon Storm (Sr., Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) followed by two from Lillig to pull ahead 14-10. Carthage then took leads of 19-14 and 22-16, until finally closing out the third set with a kill by Craft, 25-18.
 
The Eagles kept it interesting at the beginning of the fourth set opening with a tie of 3-3. However, the Red Men ceased control of the game and back-to-back kills from Craft and Lillig created a five-point lead, 11-6, for Carthage. Benedictine pulled within one point at 14-13, but the Red Men remained strong and took another five-point lead at 21-16 with kills from Lillig and Storm. Carthage kept their attack strong and took the fourth set and the game, 25-18, ending with a kill by Adamczyk.
 
"Will [Craft] did a nice job of stepping up and playing in a position he has never played," said head coach L.J. Marx, "He is one of the most athletic guys we have on the team, so it went with the theory of putting the athletic guys on the court and seeing what happens. He made a few mistakes back there, but he usually regrouped and did a nice job. I'm very proud of Will for keeping his composure in a new environment today."
 
Craft led the Red Men with 16 kills and a .208 attacking percentage, while teammate Storm collected 20 digs and had 13 kills with a .353 attacking percentage. Tyler Saieg (So., Woodridge, Ill./Downers Grove-North) had 44 assists in the victory over Benedictine. Sterling Glover led the Eagles with 14 kills and 11 digs.
 
"We are going to keep working," continued Marx, "Carthage has a reputation of being one of the best programs in the country, and we are very good this year. We are not quite the level we have been at, but we are going to keep working and getting better every day. The good news is we still have time before the season is over to get better."
 
Carthage travels to Milwaukee to take on conference-opponent and No. 13 the Milwaukee School of Engineering (8-2, 1-1 MCVL) in a 7 p.m. match on Thursday, Feb. 12, at the Kern Center.