Men’s Volleyball defeated by Mount St. Joseph in home opener

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's volleyball lost a 3-0 contest to Mount St. Joseph University in the Celtics' home opener Saturday afternoon.

The Lions (3-3) defeated Carlow (0-4), 25-23, 25-22 and 25-16.

Russ Cyprowski and Will Piccolino led the Celtics with 13 and 11 kills, respectively. James Stone added 25 assists and Logan Alexander produced eight digs in the effort.

Carlow's narrow first set loss followed controversy involving the Lions' rotation. Early in the set, a kill from Piccolino set off a 5-0 run for the Celtics that gave them an 11-7 advantage.

Carlow stayed a few points ahead through the set, leading 23-21 after the rotation discussion was dismissed. Three kills in a row put the Lions out front to score the set point, but the Celtics called a timeout. Unfortunately, a kill from MSJ followed the timeout to give the Lions the first set win.

MSJ gained marginal leads through the second set, but the Celtics tied the game six times before an ace and a kill put them ahead, 18-16. Carlow briefly held onto the lead before an MSJ ace tied the score, 21-all. A kill from each team saw the score tied again at 22 and an error forced the Celtics to call a timeout. The Lions hit back-to-back kills to end the set with a 25-22 victory.

MSJ jumped out to a 10-5 lead to start the third set, and several errors allowed the Lions to run away with a 25-16 win. MSJ committed just one error and allowed the Celtics just five kills in the third set.

Carlow recorded six service aces on the day, while the Lions hit .378 as a team.

Jude Lewis and Ryan Bollhauer led the Lions with 13 and 12 kills, respectively, and Ben Carmosino tallied nine digs.

Carlow returns to action with a 7 p.m. match at St. Vincent College Jan. 30.