Host Nazareth Edges Carthage at Molten Championship

Bill Kauffman April 15, 2011

Photo: Copyrighted by USAV/AVCA

Molten Division III Men's Invitational Volleyball Championship logo

Bill Kauffman
Associate Director, Communications
Phone: 719-228-6800
E-Mail: bill.kauffman@usav.org

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (April 15, 2011) – Host and second-seed Nazareth College rallied to defeat third-seed Carthage College 25-14, 18-25, 27-29, 28-26, 15-11 in the second semifinal of the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship being held in Rochester, N.Y.

Nazareth improves to 30-3 on the season and will face top-seed Springfield College (16-13) for the championship on Saturday at 8 p.m. ET. Nazareth finished fourth last year at the Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship in its only other tournament appearance. Springfield is seeking its second consecutive and seventh overall Molten title, which would give the Pride a tournament-record in the 15th and final running of the event. Earlier this year the NCAA approved a Division III men’s championship that will begin in 2012.

In the first semifinal, top-seeded Springfield defeated No. 4 Baruch (34-15) 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 25-17. Baruch (34-15) will play Carthage (22-11) at 5 p.m. ET on Saturday.

Hans Schroeder paced Nazareth with 18 kills on 30 swings as part of a .500 hitting efficiency. He added two aces and two blocks in the victory. Billy Gimello added a double-double of 18 kills and 10 digs to go with two aces and a block. Kraft chipped in 13 kills on 20 errorless attacks for a .650 hitting efficiency to go with six blocks. EJ Wells-Spicer produced 61 assists in the victory, while Dan Mowery reached 10 digs.

Tom O’Connell led Carthage with 18 kills, four blocks and seven digs. Randy Hansen charted 15 kills on 26 attacks and nine digs in the setback. Matt Yanz recorded 12 kills on 19 attacks, while Tyler Frings added 10 kills and four blocks. Connor Wexter handed out 56 assists, while Mike Bynon was credited with 12 digs.

Carthage defeated Nazareth in last year’s Molten Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship consolation match to earn the bronze medal.

Nazareth broke a 4-all tie in the opening set with a 10-3 scoring run and cruised to a 25-14 victory after scoring six of the last seven points. Carthage scored four of the first five points of the second set, which turned out to be close until the score reached 16-all. After seven ties and two lead changes, Carthage put together a 9-2 scoring run to walk away with a 25-18 victory in the second set.

The third set witnessed 14 ties and seven lead changes in a tight battle. Carthage broke a 15-all tie to take an 18-15 and held a three-point cushion at 23-20. However, Nazareth withstood two set points to tie the set at 24-all and went in front 26-25 on an ace. Carthage regained the lead at 28-27 and capped the set at 29-27 with two consecutive Nazareth hitting errors after a service error.

Carthage grabbed a 10-7 advantage in the fourth set with three unanswered points, only to have Nazareth come back to take a 13-12 lead. Carthage again used a 3-0 scoring spurt to take an 18-15 lead and held a 23-20 margin late in the set. However, the host team roared back to gain set point at 24-23 with four unanswered points. Carthage ended up saving three set points before Nazareth won the fourth frame with its fourth opportunity at 28-26 force a deciding fifth set.

Nazareth built an early 7-3 margin in the fifth set as Schroeder and Kraft put together consecutive kills followed by a Carthage attack error. Carthage cut the gap in half with consecutive kills from Yanz and O’Connell at 8-6. A Kraft kill lifted Nazareth to a four-point cushion at 13-9 forcing Carthage to call its second timeout of the set. Schroeder ended the match with a kill at 15-11 lifting Nazareth into its first Molten title match.

Molten U.S.A., Inc. is the “Official Volleyball of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.” Sports Imports is the “Official Net System Supplier of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.” Mizuno USA is the “Official Apparel & Shoe Sponsor of the Division III Men’s Invitational Volleyball Championship.”

Tournament History with Final Placing:
2010: 1. Springfield; 2. UC Santa Cruz; 3. Carthage; 4. Nazareth (hosted by Carthage)
2009: 1. Juniata; 2. Stevens; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Ramapo (hosted by Ramapo)
2008: 1. Springfield; 2. Vassar; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Juniata (hosted by Springfield)
2007: 1. Juniata; 2. Carthage; 3. Springfield; 4. Stevens (hosted by Juniata)
2006: 1. Juniata; 2. UC Santa Cruz; 3. Stevens; 4. Rivier (hosted by Stevens)
2005: 1. Juniata; 2. Carthage; 3. Stevens; 4. Medaille (hosted by Stevens)
2004: 1. Juniata; 2. Medaille; 3. UC Santa Cruz; 4. Eastern Mennonite (hosted by Eastern Mennonite)
2003: 1. Springfield; 2. Juniata; 3. La Verne; 4. Stevens (hosted by Juniata)
2002: 1. Springfield; 2. La Verne; 3. NYU; 4. Lehman (hosted by NYU)
2001: 1. Springfield; 2. D’Youville; 3. Clarke; 4. Vassar (hosted by Springfield)
2000: 1. UC San Diego; 2. NYU; 3. D’Youville; 4. Stevens (hosted by Stevens)
1999: 1. La Verne; 2. D’Youville; 3. Clarke; 4. Juniata (hosted by Clarke)
1998: 1. Juniata; 2. La Verne; 3. Springfield; 4. Eastern Mennonite (hosted by Springfield)
1997: 1. Springfield; 2. NJIT; 3. Juniata; 4. UC San Diego (hosted by Juniata)