Men's Volleyball takes Thiel College to five sets in home opener

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's volleyball took Thiel College to five sets but came up just short in a 3-2 loss at St. Joseph Athletic & Fitness Center gymnasium Tuesday.

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's volleyball took Thiel College to five sets but came up just short in a 3-2 loss at St. Joseph Athletic & Fitness Center gymnasium Tuesday.

It was Carlow's home-opener, and the campus rallied in support of the Celtics.

Thiel improved to an even 9-9 on the season, while Carlow fell to 0-8 with the loss.

Russ Cyprowski led the Celtics with 13 kills. Will Piccolino contributed 11 kills, and Colin Wiegand added nine in the effort.

James Stone and Logan Alexander combined for 28 digs and Coulter Chaffee tallied 36 assists.

Both teams kept it close in the first set, with the Celtics leading, 15-12, midway through the game.

Six errors and several kills afforded the Tomcats a subsequent 9-1 run to put them ahead, 21-16, on the way to a 25-19 first set win.

Carlow held a marginal lead the second set before back-to-back aces from Thiel tied it up, 12-all.

A Carlow attacking error late in the game tied the score once again at 21. A kill from Cyprowski and a Thiel error forced the Tomcats to call a timeout, but Wiegand followed-up with another kill and Chaffee ended the set with an ace, 25-21, in favor of the Celtics.

The teams traded leads through the start of the third set, but a 9-3 run put the Tomcats up, 18-13.

Thiel allowed Carlow just one kill the remainder of the game, tallying five unanswered points to win the third set, 25-16.

With the Tomcats ahead two games to one, the Celtics battled through the fourth set to lead, 23-19.

Three kills in a row cut Carlow's advantage to just one point, but Cyprowski came through with a big kill after a called time out, and the Tomcats ended the game with an error to give Carlow the 25-22 win.

Carlow jumped out to a 3-0 to start the deciding set, but errors plagued the Celtics through the game.

The Tomcats went on a 10-1 run fueled by five kills and five Carlow errors to put them ahead, 10-4, en route to a 15-7 win.

Jake Dies and Tyler Hussey recorded 10 kills apiece for the Tomcats, while Dies contributed five blocks on the night.

Cameron Long and Ethan Cooper combined for 24 digs.

The Celtics travel to Crestview Hills, Ky. for the Thomas More University tri-match Feb. 25.