Posted: Jan 30, 2018
LEXINGTON, Ky. (MCVL.org) - Week two of the AVCA Division III Men's Volleyball Poll featured a jump for Carthage and a return for Mount St. Joseph.
The third-ranked Red Men remained perfect in 2018 with a 3-0 week, including a pair of wins over top-10 programs No. 9 Benedictine and No. 3 UC-Santa Cruz. Carthage needed five sets to hang on against the Eagles in the midweek showdown. Evan Walsh (15), Max Bongratz (13) and Braedan Waumans (10) each had double-digit kill efforts as Kai Cromwell finished with 14 digs to lead the Red Men.
Carthage had little issue with the third-ranked Banana Slugs of UC-Santa Cruz, winning 25-20, 25-20, 25-19 from inside Tarble Arena. Walsh once again led the Red Men with 12 kills and added three service aces while Bongratz totaled five blocks at the net. Carthage concluded its week with a 3-0 sweep of first-year program Concordia Wisconsin.
Following a 1-2 start to its season which resulted in a drop from the rankings, the Lions proved their worth with back-to-back wins over top-10 programs this weekend. Mount St. Joseph opened with a 3-1 win over No. 9 Juniata and followed up that performance with a 3-1 win over No. 5 Nazareth.
Against Juniata, Andrew Chisholm totaled 11 blocks, including three solo stops, while adding nine kills against Juniata. Darien Bradley and Jason Hascher combined for 31 kills and a .459 attack percentage to lead the Lions past Nazareth.
Carthage and MIT are the only programs in the national poll that are undefeated this season and the Red Men received a first place vote for the first time this season.