KENOSHA, WIS.—The Carthage College men's volleyball team embarked on their second doubleheader of the 2019 season on Saturday when they welcomed #15 UC Santa Cruz and North Park University to Tarble Arena. The Red Men displayed record-setting numbers in their 3-2 victory over the Banana Slugs before they concluded the day with a 3-0 sweep over the Vikings.
 
"Not flawless volleyball by any stretch of the imagination as far as fundamental and execution went," said Red Men head volleyball coach L.J. Marx. "The good news is that we have a couple days off to rest and recover before we're back at it with another tough match next weekend."
 
The doubleheader sweep gives the Red Men a 9-1, 0-0 MCVL record while UC Santa Cruz falls to 7-9 and North Park drops to 3-6.
 
Red Men 3, UC Santa Cruz 2
 
The Red Men torched UC Santa Cruz for record-setting numbers. Matt Reinsel tied the school record for most assists in a five-set contest with 74, which entrenched his name along Scott Marita, who accomplished that same feat on January 18, 2009 against Rivier. This engineered a Red Men unit that posted a school-record 79 assists, which upped the previous school-record mark of 76 against MIT on January 26, 2009. That's not all, the Red Men's 84 kills against the Banana Slugs edged the 82 accomplished on January 18, 2009 against Rivier.
 
Evan Walsh eclipsed a career-high 24 kills, while Braeden Waumans followed with a career-high 19. Kai Cromwell commanded the Red Men with a career-high 20 digs.
 
Carthage opened the contest with a 25-19 victory, behind six kills from Walsh in the set. Carthage found themselves in a 2-1 hole with 25-23 and 25-22 losses before saving their best for last. Five Walsh kills combined with six Banana Slug errors propelled Carthage to a 25-18 win in set four.
 
Set five saw Carthage lead the entirety, thanks to nine team kills to secure the 15-9 set-win and 3-2 victory.
 
Red Men 3, North Park 0
 
The Red Men were led by Bryce Thomas's 15 kills in the contest, with the help of Matt Reinsel, who tied his own school-record mark of 49 assists accomplished on January 23, 2016 against Benedictine Mesa. Libero Blake Arnold turned in a 10-dig performance while Conner Lilly posted a game-high four blocks. The Red Men registered an efficient .324 hitting percentage against North Park's .213 mark.
 
Seven of Thomas's kills occurred in the first set, which sealed a 25-18 win for the Red Men. The second set began with a 6-1 run, and ended with a 5-0 run courtesy of Carthage en route to a 25-20 win. Braeden Waumans put the exclamation point on the contest with six kills in the third set, helping Carthage win 25-19 and secure a 3-0 match win.
 
The Red Men will return to action at home on Saturday, February 16 against Milwaukee School of Engineering at 1:00 p.m.