NAPERVILLE, Ill. – After a 2017 absence from the NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship, the Carthage College Red Men are returning with a chance to play for the title on their home court after defeating Loras College in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Tournament Championship, 3-0, earning the conference's first AQ.
 
­With their 11th straight win; the Red Men claim their third MCVL Tournemant title and improve to 24-1 entering the NCAA Championship.  Loras' postseason run, which included a win over regular season champion and top-seeded North Central, comes to a close with a final record of 14-11.
 
"Looking at the stats this was not a pretty game, but it was a lot of fun to be part of," said head coach LJ Marx after the championship.  "A lot of credit to what Jeremy Thornburg is building and was able to do with them.  After a long night and a quick turnaround, they came out and made life very difficult today.  Looking at what we were able to do today, Loras took away our middles all afternoon, but we responded very well with strong play from our outsides with Matt [Reinsel] being able to recognize the changes needed to be made.  Very happy with the win though and hoping we get to be on our court next weekend!"
 
Despite being outhit as a team, .133 to .123, the Red Men took advantage of the Duhawks errors on the attack and from the service line. Loras missed on 23 attacks and 16 serves, compared to 20 attack errors by the Red Men attack and just eight from the service line.  Loras did finish the match however with the edge in kills, 36-30.
 
The biggest moment of the match came in the second set, with the Red men trailing 22-20, Carthage went on a 4-1 run to take their first lead of the set since 12-11 earlier, capped off by a Bryce Thomas ace to put the Red Men ahead 24-23.  After the Duhawks tied it again at 24-24, Kelvin Rivera and Mason Moore connected on back-to-back kills to give Carthage the 26-24 second set win and a commanding 2-0 lead in the match.
 
All-Midwest Collegaite Volleyball League second teamer Kelvin Rivera was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player after finishing with a match-high 12 kills in the win and picked up eight digs, which was second behind libero Tony Allen who had 12.
 
Joining Rivera on the All-Tournament team was fellow outside hitter, Kai Cromwell, and setter Matt Reinsel.  Cromwell finished second on the team with eight kills in the championship and ripped off a pair of service aces, while Reinsel, an all-conference first team selection had 27 assists.
 
While the Carthage middles didn't provide much offense, they were a dominant force defensively, combining for ten blocks, including eight from All-MCVL first team selection, Zach Lillig.  Lillig's eight blocks tied his career-high and the four solo were the most by a Red Men players since Ryan Paull in 2015.
The Red Men will have to wait until Monday to learn the NCAA Championship fate, when the 2018 NCAA Division III Men's Volleyball Championship Selection Show reveals the complete 12-team field and the four host sites.  The Selection Show will be aired on NCAA.com at 9:00 a.m.