Men’s Volleyball concludes Grove City quad match with two losses

GROVE CITY, Pa. --- Carlow University men's volleyball concluded the Grove City College quad match with games against Trine (Ind.) University and Eastern University Saturday.

The Celtics (0-7) fell 3-0 to the Thunder (8-4) in the noon game and lost 3-0 to the Eagles (7-4) in the second match of the day.

vs. Trine: L, 25-8, 25-13, 25-15

The Thunder hit .355 as a team to defeat Carlow in the first match of the day.

Gavin McLain (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding HS) led the Celtics with a career-high eight kills. Ryan Callahan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area HS) contributed a double-double 10 digs and 11 assists, and David Valentino (Murrysville, Pa./Franklin Regional HS) recorded Carlow's lone service ace in the match.

Three Trine errors in a row handed Carlow an early lead, but the Thunder quickly gained it back. The Celtics tied the game at 6-6 before a kill from Ryan Ford set off a 13-0 run for the Thunder, giving them a commanding 19-6 advantage. Luke Campana (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) broke up the barrage with a kill, but Trine cruised to a 25-8 first set win.

Errors once again plagued the Thunder to start the second set, affording the Celtics a 5-0 advantage. The Celtics led, 8-4, before Trine went on a brief 5-1 run to tie the game at 9-all. A Carlow attack error gave Trine its first lead of the set, and Valentino quickly tied it at 10-10 with a kill. A 9-0 Thunder run put them ahead 19-10, and the Celtics could not overcome the deficit as Trine took the second set, 25-13.

Carlow trailed 6-1 in the third but kept it close throughout the remainder of the game until the very end. Trailing 10-5, the Celtics outscored the Thunder 8-6 to cut their lead to three. Trine strung together a 9-2 run to end the third set and the game, 25-15.

Ford hit .571 to lead the Thunder with a game-high 10 kills. Xander Ikusz and Ethan McClenon added six digs apiece, and Luke Trotter recorded six of Trine's 12 service aces on the day.

vs. Eastern: L, 25-11, 25-9, 25-20

The Celtics returned to the court immediately for the second match of the day against the Eagles.

McLain led the Celtics with five kills, and Callahan added five digs and eight assists in the effort.

Eastern jumped out to a 7-1 lead to begin the match, pushing its advantage to 10-4. A kill from Callahan saw Carlow trailing 11-6 before a Carlow service error set off a 12-2 run for the Eagles that had them ahead, 23-8. Three Eastern errors allowed Carlow to breach double figures, but a Celtics service error ended the first set 25-11 in favor of the Eagles.

Carlow led 3-2 at the start of the second set until Eastern put together another big 9-1 run to gain an 11-4 advantage. The Eagles hit .667 in the second set enroute to a 25-9 victory.

The Celtics struck the first two points in the third set, but Eastern quickly regained the lead. Two errors in a row and an ace from Jaden Michalski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) saw Carlow trailing by one until the Eagles put together a brief 5-1 run to gain some distance. Trailing 24-16, kills from McLain and Valentino and two Eastern errors saw the Celtics down four before Colby Arvesen landed the final blow for the Eagles.

Tyler Younger and Max Bagileo led the Eagles with seven kills apiece. Three different Eastern players tallied four digs each, and Kadin Kolstad recorded seven of the Eagles' 16 service aces on the day.

The Celtics enjoy a long break before traveling to St. Vincent College for a 7 p.m. game Feb. 24.