MILWAUKEE — The Carthage College men's volleyball team swept MSOE on Thursday 3-0 on the road. 

• Final Score: Carthage 3 - MSOE 0 (25-15, 25-23, 28-26) 
• Location: Milwaukee, Wisconsin - Kern Center
• Records: No. 5 Carthage 10-2, MSOE 1-8

• Carthage jumped out to a 12-5 lead early, fueled by kills from Ryan Cholewinski and Owen Otto.
• Otto later extended the advantage to 23-14 with another kill before Ben Heise's kill and Otto's ace secured a 25-15 first-set victory.
• In the second set, Hudson Sweitzer and Heise teamed up for a block to tie the score at 10.
• Owen Hendricks delivered a kill and an ace to give the Firebirds a two-point edge.
• MSOE battled back to even the set at 20 with a kill, but Cholewinski sealed the 25-23 win with a decisive kill.
• The home team built a 15-9 lead in the third, but Carthage rallied, closing the gap to one with another Cholewinski kill.
• A block error knotted the score at 23, and Otto's ace put Carthage at match point, but MSOE responded by tying it at 26 off an attack error.
• Heise and Cholewinski delivered back-to-back kills to clinch the match for Carthage with a 28-26 final set.

• Owen Otto once again led the Firebirds in kills with 12, followed by Ryan Cholewinski with nine and Ben Heise with eight. 
• Ryan Morey chipped in with 33 assists while Zack Noland had a team-best 16 digs. 

"I am really proud of this team. We have worked hard this week to get better and MSOE challenged us well in set two and three. The fact that we got pushed and didn't back down in set three is an incredible sign for our future. We know we can fight back from any deficit  at any time. And that belief was on display in set three. Great teams find ways to win, no matter the circumstances in front of them.

Ryan Cholewinski has been an elite leader on the court for this team. His incredible defense has been his strength throughout his career, but I am so impressed by his improvement offensively and that was on display today. Owen Otto and Hudson Sweitzer hit some big serves late in set threee to win us that set. I'm so impressed by their confidence in big moments. Owen Hendricks was great today in all facets of the game, particularly his passing which has been a massive focus of his.

What a team win. I'm just incredibly lucky to be a part of this group. We can't wait to start conference play on Saturday. It is a grueling trip to Illinois Wesleyan, and they are a great team. But I know we will be ready for this moment."


Carthage starts conference play facing Illinois Wesleyan on Saturday, February 22 at 3 p.m.