SPRINGFIELD, Ohio – The Carthage College Red Men did their part on Saturday, but will not be hosting the 2018 Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League Tournament after taking care of Wittenberg University in southern Ohio, 3-0 [26-24, 25-18, 25-15].
 
The Red Men finish the regular season at 22-1 and 8-1 in the MCVL, while Wittenberg's regular season wraps up at 14-11 and 4-5 in the MCVL. 
 
Carthage will be the number-two seed in next weekend's MCVL Tournament and will face number-three Mount St. Joseph University in the semifinals.  North Central, the regular season champion, will host.
 
The Red Men came out and struggled to open the match, hitting just .189 to the Tigers' .278, but managed to squeak out a first set win 26-24.  From there it was all Carthage as the Red Men hit .310 and .368 in sets two and three respectively, for a match total of .288.  Wittenberg was unable to keep their strong hitting start going, finishing with a match percentage of .160.
 
Junior opposite Evan Walsh led the Red Men with 14 kills in the win, followed by Mason Moore with 11.  Carthage dominated from the service line, doubling up Wittenberg with eight aces to four, including a career-high four from Kelvin Rivera.  Matt Reinsel led all players with 30 assists in the three-setter.
 
Defensively, Carthage dominated play at the net.  Zach Lillig turned in his second best game of the season as the middle blocker recorded eight blocks in the win, while not making an error at the net.  Mason Moore also had a strong defensive performance, finishing second on the team with 14 digs.  Evan Walsh led all players with 15.
 
As previously mentioned, the Red Men will take on the Lions of Mount St. Joseph on Friday, April 13^th from Naperville, Illinois.  Semifinal match times will be set later this evening.