KENOSHA, Wis.  — The No. 9 Carthage College men's volleyball squad picked up a victory on Friday night, defeating Aurora 3-0 in their home opening game at Tarble Arena.

Carthage (2-0) started the game with a fast 8-2 lead over Aurora (0-2). The Spartans battled back to narrow the gap to two until a kill from Zach Bulthuis made it 12-8. Later in the set, a kill from Matt Slivinski extended the Carthage margin to 19-13. The home team went on to take the first 25-18. 

In the second, Aurora started with a slim 7-4 advantage to start. With the score knotted at 13, a 6-3 run for Carthage flipped the score to 19-16. Aurora cut it to 22-20 until a block by Parker Connolly and a set error for Aurora gave the home team the set 25-20. 

The home team began the third with a 3-1 advantage sparked by kills from Slivinski and Bryce Thomas. A fast 10-4 run for Carthage extended the lead to 13-5. Later in the set, Aurora made it 21-13 with a kill until Carthage took the match with a Spartans attack error 25-15. 

Next up, Carthage stays home and is scheduled to play Concordia (Wis.) on Tuesday, February 9 at 7 p.m. 

Quick Facts

• Matt Slivinski led the team in kills on the evening with 19 on a .567 hitting-percentage. Slivinski also tied his career-best in service aces with six. 
• Kyle Cohan led Carthage in digs with 11.
• Gene McNulty added 33 assists for the second-straight game.  
• Carthage hit .619 in the third set with 13 kills off 21 total attacks. 

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