KENOSHA, WIS. - The Adrian College men's volleyball team fell against No. 2 ranked Carthage in three straight sets on Friday night. Noah Marcinkowski (Menifee, Calif.) led the Bulldogs with eight kills in the losing effort.

THE BASICS

Final Score: Carthage 3, Adrian 0 (25-18, 25-22, 25-19)

Location: Kenosha, Wisconsin (Tarble Arena)

Records: Carthage (14-1, 1-1 MCVL), Adrian (3.7, 1-2 MCVL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Adrian held an early lead, 4-1, in the opening set before Carthage was able to tie the score at seven. The Red Men built a lead of 21-16 late in the set before claiming a 1-0 lead with a 25-18 set-one victory.

It was Carthage that pulled out an early 4-1 lead in the second before the Bulldogs rallied back to tie the score at four. Adrian captured the lead and pushed the deficit to four points (13-9) before the Red Men tied the set at 15. With the score knotted up at 16, Carthage scored five straight points to pull ahead 21-16 and eventually take the set and gain a 2-0 advantage in set score.

The third set was all Red Men as they pulled ahead to a 14-5 lead early in the third. The Bulldogs were able to cut the lead to six (18-12) but Carthage pulled ahead to a commanding 24-15 lead. Adrian continued to fight and scored four straight points to trail by only five points before Carthage scored the match point.

TOP DOGS

• Marcinkowski tallied four digs and two services aces to go along with his team-high eight kills.

• Kevin Curley (Zion, Ill.) registered seven kills, two digs, and one block for the Bulldogs.

• Joseph Campana (Los Angeles, Calif.) paced the Adrian attack with 22 assists. He also led the team in digs with 11.

• Kyle Bell (Lake Orion, Mich.) recorded 10 digs to help on the defensive side of the ball.

THE OPPOSITION

• Matt Slivinski and Evan Walsh led Carthage with 13 kills. Walsh also led the Red Men on defense with nine digs.

• Matt Reinsel set the tone for the offense with a match-high 46 assists.

• Zach Lillig had a match-high four blocks in the win.

UP NEXT

Adrian will participate in a tri-match at North Central (Ill.) on Saturday, March 3. The Bulldogs will begin with a match against the host Cardinals at 1:00 p.m., before wrapping up the day with a 3:30 p.m., match with Maranatha Baptist.