April 14, 2009
Contact:
Steve Marovich, Sports Information Director (262) 551-5740
E-Mail: stevich@concentric.net or carthagesid@carthage.edu
Carthage 24-Hour Sports Hotline (262) 551-5388
World Wide Web: www.carthage.edu
Men’s Volleyball Wins Midwest-III Conference Tournament
No. 13 Red Men Sweep No. 14 MSOE in Title Match
2009 Midwest-III Conference Tournament: The Carthage College men’s volleyball team (8-25, 4-0 Midwest-III Volleyball Conference), ranked 13th in the final, regular-season Bison/American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, closed out its 2009 season on Saturday, April 4 by winning the Midwest-III Conference Tournament at Tarble Arena in Kenosha, Wis. Carthage swept No. 14 the Milwaukee School of Engineering (10-19, 2-2 M-III), 3-0, in the title match. The Red Men’s winning set scores over the Raiders were 30-18, 30-25 and 30-26. Earlier, MSOE swept Fontbonne University (0-19, 0-4 M-III), 3-0, in a semifinal match. MSOE’s winning set scores over Fontbonne were 30-13, 30-26 and 30-28.
2008 M-III Tournament: Carthage (18-15, 4-0 Midwest-III Volleyball Conference), ranked ninth in the final, regular season American Volleyball Coaches Association/College Sports Television NCAA Division III poll, closed out its 2008 campaign on April 5 by winning the Midwest-III Volleyball Conference Tournament at the Milwaukee School of Engineering’s Kern Center with a 3-0 win over MSOE (8-20). The top-seeded Red Men’s winning game scores over the second-seeded Raiders were 30-21, 30-24 and 30-24. Earlier in the day, MSOE defeated third-seeded Fontbonne University (2-18), 3-0, in the semifinals. MSOE’s winning game scores over Fontbonne were 30-16, 30-19 and 30-15. MSOE played host to the event due to construction of Carthage’s Tarble Arena.
Five Red Men Named All-Conference: Five member of the Carthage team were named All-Midwest-III Conference. Those four were Randy Hansen (Fr., Oak Lawn, Ill., 3.22 kills per game), Tim Walker (So., Milwaukee, Wis./Marquette University High School, .433 attack percentage, 2.30 kills per game, 0.83 blocks per game), Matt Yanz (Fr., Bolingbrook, Ill./Naperville-Central, .306 attack percentage, 2.02 kills per game, 1.08 blocks per game), Tom O’Connell (So., Chicago, Ill./Brother Rice, 2.65 kills per game, 0.73 blocks per game) and Eric Ball (Jr., Naperville, Ill./North, 2.74 kills per game). Hansen was also named M-III “Player of the Year” and “Freshman of the Year.”
The Polls: Juniata College (14-7, 16 first-place votes) was ranked first in the in the final, regular-season Bison/American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III poll, followed by the Stevens Institute of Technology (25-6) second, the University of California-Santa Cruz (13-9) third, Springfield College (14-8) fourth, Nazareth College (28-5) fifth, Rivier College (33-2) sixth, New York University (9-19) seventh, Vassar College (19-8) eighth, Philadelphia Biblical University (21-12) ninth, Ramapo College (24-7) 10th, Baruch College (35-10) 11th, Endicott College (22-12) 12th, Carthage College (8-25) 13th, the Milwaukee School of Engineering (10-19) 14th and Eastern Mennonite University (14-18) ranked 15th.
The Coach: L.J. Marx completed his fifth year as head coach in 2009 (80-70, 5 years) after coaching the Carthage men’s club volleyball squad for both the 2003 and 2004 seasons (43-18, 2 years at the club level). Marx was named American Volleyball Coaches Association NCAA Division III Men’s Coach of the Year in both 2005 and 2007. With the Carthage club team, Marx coached six National Intramural-Recreational Sports Association All-Americans and four All-Wisconsin Volleyball Conference honorees.
The Conference: After three years of affiliation with the Midwest Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA), Carthage helped form a new league in 2008, the Midwest-III Volleyball Conference (M-III VC). The two other members of the new, three-team league are Fontbonne University and the Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Looking at the Molten Championship: While the NCAA sponsors a national championship for men’s volleyball, programs from all three divisions compete for just four berths in the yearly tournament. In the 33-year history of the men’s tournament, no NCAA Division III program has ever been selected to participate in the NCAA Men’s Volleyball Championship. The Molten Championship was started in 1997 in order to create a culminating event for NCAA Division III men’s volleyball. Springfield College, the host school for the 2008 event in Springfield, Mass., receives one berth in the four-team event, along with the winners of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) and the North East Collegiate Volleyball Association (NECVA). One at-large team from either the Midwest or West regions will complete the four-team field.
The Future for NCAA Division III Men’s Volleyball: Forty-eight NCAA Division III schools sponsored men’s volleyball as a varsity sport in 2008-09. Once the 50-team threshold has been reached, the NCAA is expected to add a Division III championship, possibly in 2010-11.
The Record Book: Randy Hansen (Fr., Oak Lawn, Ill.) set Carthage season records in 2009 with 367 kills and 910 total attack attempts…setter Scott Marita (Fr., Pleasant Prairie, Wis./Kenosha-Tremper) set a season record by averaging 11.27 assists per game…the Red Men set a team record with 110 block solos…Carthage set match record against Rivier College on Jan. 18 for most kills in five sets (82), most service aces in five sets (10), most points in five sets (144) and most points in a single set (38). Setter Scott Marita set a match record against Rivier for most assists in five sets (74).