SANTA CRUZ — The No. 8 Carthage College men's volleyball team opened their California trip with a 3-1 victory over SUNY New Paltz on Friday afternoon.
- Final Score: Carthage 3 - SUNY New Paltz 1 (21-25, 25-22, 25-20, 28-26)
- Location: Santa Cruz, California - Kaiser Permanente Arena
- Records: No. 8 Carthage 3-0, SUNY New Paltz 0-2
- Carthage opened the first set with a 12-10 lead following a kill by Owen Hendricks.
- SUNY New Paltz responded with three consecutive kills to tie the set at 14, but key kills from Ryan Cholewinski and Owen Otto pushed Carthage ahead by two.
- The Hawks regained momentum, taking a 19-18 lead with a kill. Despite a solo block from Hendricks narrowing the gap to one, SUNY New Paltz closed the set with three unanswered points, winning 25-21.
- The second set saw back-and-forth scoring until kills by Hendricks and Ruben Emmerich gave Carthage a one-point lead.
- The Hawks maintained a slight advantage until a 4-1 Carthage run, capped by a Ben Heise kill, shifted the score to 19-17.
- After briefly trailing, Carthage sealed the set with a 6-2 run to win 25-22.
- In the third set, SUNY New Paltz jumped to an 11-8 lead, but a kill from Otto helped Carthage regain control.
- The Hawks surged ahead by one with three straight points, but Jack McDonald's ace and a Hendricks kill put Carthage up 19-17.
- Despite SUNY New Paltz closing the gap, a block by Cholewinski and Otto secured the set for Carthage at 25-20.
- SUNY New Paltz began the fourth set strong, but Carthage's 11-2 run gave them a commanding 17-10 advantage.
- The Hawks rallied with five unanswered points to pull within two, but kills from Hudson Sweitzer and Emmerich extended Carthage's lead to 19-16.
- SUNY New Paltz countered with a four-point run, taking a one-point lead, and later faced set point with a two-point edge.
- Carthage responded with a kill from Heise and a SUNY New Paltz attack error to tie the score at 24.
- Following a Hawks service error, Carthage closed the match with three consecutive points to win 28-26.
- Owen Otto led the Firebirds with a match-high 17 kills, followed by Owen Hendricks with 11 and Ben Heise with 10.
- Ryan Morey tallied a team-best 31 assists, while Joe Kolwicz added 13.
- On defense, Zack Noland and Ben Heise recorded double-digit digs, with Noland finishing with 12 and Heise tallying 10.
- The Firebirds offense posted a .343 hitting percentage in the second set and .345 in the fourth.
"I'm really proud of the battle this team displayed in big situations today. New Paltz has a really dynamic team that can put pressure on you in a lot of areas.
Every set was close and came down to 20-20 scenarios. It's really difficult for a young team like ours to battle with consistency. We stayed calm and confident in each other. We played like a team that has been in big moments before and found ways to win. We ran everything down in rally and refused to give up.
I have been really impressed with how
Hudson Sweitzer has been playing in the middle as a freshman. His blocking has been great and he stays composed in big moments.
Owen Otto and
Ben Heise were really great offensively today.
Owen Hendricks came up with some big serves and blocks in critical moments.
Jack McDonald made some big serves in set three and
Zack Noland got better throughout the match while leading the serve-receive pattern.
It's now time to reset and get ready for a great UC Santa Cruz team tomorrow!"
- Day two of the Slug Slam Tournament continues tomorrow as the Firebirds will face No. 15 UC Santa Cruz at 6 p.m. PST.
