KENOSHA, Wis. – The Carthage College men's volleyball opened their 2018 season Friday night at Tarble Arena, as the #9 Red Men defeated the #14 Marymount University Saints in a nationally-ranked matchup, 3-1.
 
The gives the Red Men a 1-0 start on the year, while the loss for the Saints, coupled with a win early in the day over Concordia University of Wisconsin, sends Marymount to 3-1 in 2018.
 
After dropping the first set, the Red Men bounced take to sweep the next three matches to win the four-setter, 25-27, 25-17, 25-23, 25-23.
 
For Carthage, despite recording only 42 kills to the Marymount's 52, the Red Men outhit the Saints .283 to .195, thanks to 27 Saints errors and nine blocks by the Red Men frontline.  The Red Men also rattled off 13 service aces to help the cause.
 
Evan Walsh was a power for the Red Men in the win, recording a team-high 11 kills and match-high six service aces in the win.  The junior opposite hit .188 in the match and also added four blocks. 
 
Joining Walsh with double-digit kills was Braeden Waumans with ten on 17 attacks and just one error, giving Waumans a .529 attack percentage, which was second-best on the team.  Zach Lillig led the Red Men hitting with a .643 hitting percentage, as the 2017 All-America selection had nine kills on 14 attempts with no errors.
 
Fellow All-American, Matt Reinsel, dished out 36 assists in the win to lead the Red Men and Max Bongratz had a match-high five blocks to lead Carthage.  Wauman's rounded out the statistical leaders on the defensive side with 11 digs in the win followed by Tony Allen with nine.
 
The Red Men will return to action next weekend with matches against Southern Virginia University and Penn State-Behrend on Friday and a single match against Juniata College on Saturday.  All matches will be played at Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio.