FOND DU LAC, Wis. - Marian University men's volleyball (3-5, 2-2 MCVL) opened the match with a win in the first set but No. 5 Carthage stormed back to take the match with set scores of 18-25, 25-21, 25-16 and 25-18.

Marian jumped out to the early lead in the opening set at 13-11 before using a 9-3 run to take a sizeable lead at 22-14.  The Sabres then went point for point with the nationally-ranked Red Men and a kill from freshman Jacob DeGroot clinched the set.

Similarly, the second set was tight with Carthage taking a small 16-14 lead before growing their lead to 24-18 with an 8-4 run.  Marian would hold off Carthage for the first three set points before a service error did the Sabres in to tie the match at 1-1.

A strong finish from Carthage at the end of the third set set the tone for the remainder of the match as the Red Men used a 7-2 run to close out the fourth.  This momentum allowed Carthage to use a 10-1 run to open up a 15-6 lead in the fourth set and eventually clinch the match.

Carthage would finish the match only one kill ahead of Marian at 40-39 but the Red Men made up for that at the net where they had seven blocks.

Sophomore Jon Smallpage led the offense with a team-high 16 kills, while reigning MCVL Defensive Player of the Week sophomore Cullen Liberski had a match-high 18 digs in the back row. 

Marian is next in action Wednesday, Feb. 15 when the Sabres travel to Loras for a 7 p.m. first serve.

--FightBlueFight--