Men’s Volleyball competes against Grove City on first day of quad match

GROVE CITY, Pa. --- Carlow University men's volleyball faced host Grove City College on the first night of a two-day quad match Friday.

The Celtics (0-5) hit .316 in the third set, but it was not enough as the Wolverines (3-5) defeated Carlow 25-8, 25-19 and 25-22.

Gavin McLain (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding HS) led the Celtics with career-high seven kills and recorded Carlow's lone solo block on the night. Jaden Michalski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) and David Valentino (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional HS) contributed five digs apiece, and Ryan Callahan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area HS) added 14 assists.

Carlow played its best set of the season so far in the third, where they jumped out to a 5-2 lead to start. Grove City tied the game 6-6 and 7-7, but back to back kills from McLain put the Celtics up 10-8. Ahead 11-10, a service error and a kill gave the Wolverines their first lead of the set, but Valentino answered with a kill of his own to tie the game at 12-all.

Both teams tied the game five more times before the Celtics pulled away once again to lead 20-18. Grove City rallied and strung together a 7-2 run to end the game, 25-22.

The Wolverines jumped out to a 9-2 lead in the first set enroute to a decisive 25-8 victory.

The Celtics fared better in the second set, starting off with the advantage but falling behind after a 10-1 run by Grove City that put the home team ahead, 16-7. A kill from McLain set off a 5-1 run that saw Carlow trailing by five. Several Grove City errors kept the Celtics in the game late before the Wolverines ended the set with a kill to win 25-19.

Max Gianneski led Grove City with seven kills. Phillip Schweitzer and Craig Fair added four digs apiece, and Tieg Malcolm tallied two solo blocks and two service aces.

The Celtics conclude the Grove City quad match with two games today against Trine (Ind.) University and Eastern University.