Men’s Volleyball battles but comes up short in home contest against Saint Vincent

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's volleyball returned to action with a tough 3-0 loss to Saint Vincent College Saturday inside St. Joseph Athletic & Fitness Center.

Carlow lost to Saint Vincent in five sets earlier in the season, but the Bearcats would earn the sweep this time around.

The Celtics (0-13) got off to a slow start against the Bearcats (7-7), with the visiting team hitting .542 in the first set to win, 25-17.

Saint Vincent went on a 6-2 run to gain an 18-9 advantage late in the set.

Carlow attempted to battle back, but two kills in a row from Shawn McSwiggan made the score 24-16 in favor of the Bearcats, who ended the set, 25-17.

The Celtics forced the final two sets into a win-by-two situation.

Both teams tied the score multiple times throughout the course of the second set.

A hitting error gave Saint Vincent a 21-18 lead, but the Celtics quickly tied it up once again, 21-all.

Back-to-back Carlow service errors put the Bearcats up, 23-22, but Saint Vincent committed its own service error that allowed Carlow to continue the set.

Russ Cyprowski came up with two big kills, but the Bearcats maintained a one-point lead.

A Saint Vincent service error tied the score, 27-all, but back-to-back Carlow hitting errors afforded the Bearcats a 29-27 win.

Saint Vincent jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the third set and looked as though they might run away with the game, but Carlow steadily battled back to eventually tie the game, 20-20.

Both teams tied the game four more times, but once again Carlow errors proved to be the tipping point that offered the Bearcats a 27-25 win.

Chris Lewis hit .312 on the day and led the Celtics with nine kills, while Colin Wiegand and Will Piccolino both added six apiece.

Coulter Chaffee and James Stone tallied four of Carlow's seven aces, and Stone led the team with six digs.

Matthew Minkin led all players with 15 kills, hitting .393 on the day.

The Celtics travel to Alderson Broaddus University March 18 for a 12 p.m. game.