BLOOMINGTON, Ill.  — The No. 4 Carthage College men's volleyball team picked up their second-straight 3-0 conference sweep by defeating Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon. 

• Final score: Carthage 3 - Illinois Wesleyan 0
• Location: Bloomington, Illinois - Shirk Center Arena
• Records: No. 4 Carthage 11-3 (3-0 CCIW), Illinois Wesleyan 9-8 (0-2 CCIW)

 

• Carthage started with a 9-3 lead in the first off a kill from David Markes. 
• Later, a kill and block from Carter Schmidt moved the Firebirds ahead 15-9. 
• Back-to-back kills from Markes and Keegan Brumitt saw the visitors control an eight-point margin. 
• Brumitt ended the set with a kill for the 25-18 set victory. 
• It was all Carthage in the second as two kills from Zach Bulthuis saw the Firebirds go up 16-7. 
• Brumitt closed the set with two-straight kills to win 25-11. 
• With momentum on their side, two combined blocks from Ty Martin and Kyle Radecki saw Carthage take a 17-9 score. 
• Josiah Flager-Hearan connected on a kill, putting the Firebirds in front by nine. 
• Another combined block from Grant Veldman, Martin, and Ryan Morey won the match 25-15. 

• David Markes and Carter Schmidt led the Firebirds in kills on the day with seven, followed closey by Zach Bulthuis with six and Keegan Brumitt with five. 
• Gene McNulty added 29 assists while Schmidt and Grant Veldman had two and a solo ace, respectively. 

"Today was a great road win for our team, and I could not be more proud of how we accomplished it. The offense got better as the match progressed, and we were able to showcase some defensive heart at the net with our blocking.

We got a massive lift from our bench today. Keegan Brumitt was outstanding offensively and in serve receive. He was close to unstoppable when attacking and showed some good range. Joe Kolwicz did an excellent job for us at the service line bringing some pressure to frustrate the opposing team. Our middles, Ty Martin and Josiah Flager-Hearan, did a phenomenal job scoring points at the net and getting great block touches.

Our guys took on a challenge with the long road trip, and I'm really proud of how they responded. It was a great team win for our program! 

Let's #PackThePit on Wednesday and get Tarble loud to take on Loras! We need all the support we can get!"

 

• The Firebirds return home facing Loras on Wednesday, March 8 at 7 p.m.