KENOSHA, Wis. — To begin the 2020 season, the No. 6 Carthage College men's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 sweep over Wittenberg Friday evening at Tarble Arena.
The Red Men (1-0) started with a 8-2 advantage in the first set forcing a Tigers (2-4) timeout. Wittenberg battled back to cut the deficit to seven before a kill from
Bryce Thomas made the score 17-9. Three straight aces from
Matt Slivinski to closed out the set in favor of Carthage 25-15. The Red Men continued the momentum into the second set beginning with a 9-4 lead. Wittenberg again rallied later in the set to get within five until a kill from Thomas and a Tigers attack error gave Carthage a two-set lead 25-18. The Red Men went up 15-9 to start the third until Wittenberg battled back to get within four but Carthage went on to take the straight-set victory 25-17.
The Red Men stay at home playing Illinois Institute of Technology Saturday, January 25 starting at 1 p.m.
"I was really happy with the effort we played with tonight as well as the consistent pressure we were able to put on Wittenberg. The ability to come out early and play good volleyball is something we have been talking about all year and I could not be more excited to see that work out in our first match. If we can continue to be aggressive and consistent from the service line we are going to be tough to beat. It leads to some easy transition opportunities as well as some great blocking opportunities."
Quick Facts
- The Carthage offense hit .241 in the match while Wittenberg was held to .026.
- Matt Slivinski led the Red Men in kills with 12 while Bryce Thomas and Braeden Waumans added seven and five kills respectively.
- Slivinski also added six service aces while Mike Motyka recorded 29 assists.
- The victory marks the first victory for head coach JW Kieckhefer at the helm of the Carthage men's volleyball program.
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