AURORA, Ill. — The No. 8 Carthage College men's volleyball team picked up a 3-0 straight set victory over No. 15 Aurora Friday at Thornton Gymnasium. 

It was a back-and-forth contest to start with the score tied at four early on. Back-to-back kills and a service ace from Matt Slivinsk switched the score to 8-5 in favor of the Red Men (5-1). A kill from Braeden Waumans extended the lead to 12-7 before a pair of Carthage kills and a Spartans (6-1) attack error pushed the margin to 11 at 19-8. The Red Men went on to take a one-set lead 25-13. 

In set two, Aurora held a small 11-8 margin but a 6-0 run for Carthage switched the score to 14-11. The Spartans battled back to take control of the set at 20-19, however a 6-3 run gave Carthage a two set lead 25-23. 

The Red Men continued the momentum in the third starting with a 7-4 sparked by back-to-back kills from Waumans and Bryce Thomas. With the score tied at 13, two straight kills from Zach Bulthuis and Waumans made it 15-13. Another rally for Aurora tied it at 19 until Carthage closed with a 6-1 run for the straight set victory. 

The Red Men stay on the road facing Benedictine (Ill.) on Saturday, February 8 starting at 1 p.m. 

Head Coach JW Kieckhefer

"We came out really well tonight in set one and set the tone for the match. Playing great volleyball early has been a focus for this team all season and I am happy we were able to do that tonight. 
 
Jacob Allard did a really nice job from the setting position listening to the game plan and executing that throughout the match. When your middles hit well it makes the offense look really good. Parker Connolly has been so consistent for us this year and Zach Bulthuis was perfect offensively! That is fun to be a part of!"

Quick Facts

• Matt Slivinski registered 13 kills in the match marking the fifth game this season he has tallied 10 or more kills. Slivinski also hit .526 off 19 total attacks. 
• Jacob Allard added 31 assists while Braeden Waumans and Zach Bulthuis each recorded eight kills apiece. 
• The Red Men only had eight errors in the game. 

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