HOBOKEN, N.J. – The Carthage College men's volleyball team (RECORD, 6-0 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League), ranked No. 3 in the most recent AVCA Top 15 Poll, opened a short road trip to the New York City area with matches against Stevens Institute of Technology and Medaille College on Friday, February 26^th.
 
The first match of the afternoon would be against the No. 6 Stevens Institute of Technology Ducks (12-4). With the score tied 11-11 in the first set, the Red Men would make a five-point run with Will Craft serving to take a 16-11 lead. Carthage would retain this lead for the remainder of the set and took the first set 25-20 over the Ducks.
 
The second set proved to be more of a challenge for the Red Men. Down 23-20, Carthage would make a four-point run to take the lead 24-23. Despite their lead, two attack errors by Carthage and a kill by the Ducks would earn Stevens Institute of Technology the 26-24 win. The loss in the second set would end the Red Men's consecutive set win streak at 33 consecutive set wins. The loss also ended Carthage's chance of extending their sweep streak over opposing teams. Carthage has swept the past 10 opponents. Both the consecutive win and sweep streaks set new Carthage men's volleyball records.
 
Carthage quickly regained composure in the third set and jumped out to an early 10-4 lead. The Red Men would go on to win the third set 25-19.
 
In the fourth set, the Red Men quickly took control of the set and took a 10-2 lead, once again with Craft serving. Although the Ducks would attempt to mount a comeback at the end, Carthage came out victorious with a score of 25-16. The win in the fourth set earned Carthage the 3-1 win over the Ducks (25-20, 24-26, 25-19, 25-16).
 
Collectively, the Red Men made 47 kills, two service aces, nine blocks, 43 assists, 41 digs, and hit .212 in the match against the Ducks. Griffin Shields led the team with a season-high 23 kills and two service aces. J.P. Tulacka recorded eight blocks, accompanied by Shields with four blocks and Zach Lillig with two blocks. Matt Reinsel made 41 assists and Will Craft connected on 12 digs.

In their second and final match of the day, Carthage faced the Mavericks of Medaille College (8-4). Carthage took control of the match from early on, and was able to pull out a sweep of the Mavericks 3-0 (25-18, 25-20, 25-20). The win earns the Red Men their 11^th sweep of the season.
 
As a team, Carthage made 35 kills, two service aces, six blocks, 34 assists, 24 digs, and hit .253. Griffin Shields led once again in kills with 14, accompanied by Zach Lillig with six and Scotty Adamczyk with four, respectively. Will Craft and Adamczyk each earned one service aces. J.P. Tulacka recorded three blocks, followed closely by Lillig with two and Adamczyk with one. Matt Reinsel collected 17 assists and Marc Hansen made four digs.
 
With the two wins on Friday, Carthage extends their win streak to 14 wins in a row.
 
Carthage will take on Baruch College at 3 p.m., EST on Saturday, February 27^th at the Arc Arena in New York, N.Y.