SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The No. 7 Carthage College men's volleyball team (6-1, 0-0 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball Conference) had yet another strong showing as the Red Men took on Eastern Mennonite University (3-4) and California Lutheran University (0-8) on the second day of the Jim Coleman Invitational at Wittenberg University.
 
Carthage took on the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) in their first match of the day. A number of errors by the Royals would give the Red Men an early 9-4 lead. Although EMU would start to gain some ground on Carthage, the Red Men would still prove successful in being the first team to reach 25 points as they would win the first set 25-18.
 
The Royals would make an attempt at overtaking the Red Men in the second set, but would fall up short once again as Carthage would take the second set 25-20. EMU would struggle again in the third set as the Red Men took a dominant 12-2 lead. The Royals would not be able to recover as Carthage would take the third and final set 25-13, earning themselves a 3-0 sweep of Eastern Mennonite University.
 
As a team, Carthage recorded 35 kills, seven service aces, seven blocks, 34 assists, 31 digs, and hit .273. Griffin Shields made 11 kills along with Will Craft with seven and J.P. Tulacka with six. Tulacka also made four aces in the match. Craft finished with four blocks, closely followed by Zach Lillig and Tulacka with three blocks each, respectively. Matt Reinsel made 32 assists and Craft earned nine digs.
 
In their second match of the day the Red Men faced the Kingsmen of California Lutheran University. Carthage dominated the first set and quickly won 25-13. Errors plagued the Kingsmen as they recorded an attack percentage of -.033.
 
Carthage would face a more challenging Cal Lutheran in the second set as no clear leader would emerge until the end of the set. Up 19-18, the Red Men would take a five-point run, their longest of the set, to take a 24-18 lead. After an attack error, Carthage would capitalize on a bad set by the Kingsmen and would win 25-19, extending their lead to 2-0.
 
The Red Men would jump out to a commanding 11-1 lead in the third set and would not come close to losing their lead at any point. Carthage went on to win 25-15, securing their 3-0 sweep of Cal Lutheran.
 
Collectively the Red Men made 37 kills, six service aces, eight blocks, 34 assists, 38 digs and hit .300. Griffin Shields collected 13 kills along with Will Craft at 8 and J.P. Tulacka with 7. Matt Reinsel connected on 28 assists and Cody Bolan made 9 digs.
 
"The weekend went well," said head coach L.J. Marx, "Going 3-0 with three sweeps is always a fantastic way to take on the weekend. Different guys played their role and their position extremely well and we really executed everything that we wanted to."
 
The Red Men will return home to Tarble Arena February 4-6 for a series of three games. Carthage will take on the No. 4 University of California–Santa Cruz Banana Slugs (5-0) on Thursday, February 4^th at 7 p.m. On Friday, February 5^th, the Red Men will kick off MCVL play against Adrian College at 7 p.m. On Saturday, February 6^th Carthage will face Olivet College at 3 p.m.