Men’s Volleyball wins five-set thriller over neighboring Chatham

PITTSBURGH --- Carlow University men's volleyball defeated Chatham University 3-2 in a home match Thursday night.

The Celtics (2-7) took the first set 25-23 before the Cougars (4-10) won the next two sets, 25-21 and 25-22. Carlow won the fourth set 25-23, and the Celtics won the match with a 15-12 fifth set victory.

Will Piccolino tallied a game- and season-high 33 kills and hit .328 on the night to lead the Celtics. Russ Cyprowski added 22 kills, and James Stone recorded a double-double with 60 assists and 10 digs. Logan Alexander and Ryan Callahan added 20 and 13 digs, respectively while Zachary Taylor and Jaden Michalski combined for six of Carlow's nine service aces on the night.

The Cougars jumped out to a 5-2 advantage to start the first set. A kill from Piccolino cut Chatham's lead to 11-8 and set off a 6-0 run that put the Celtics up 14-11. The Cougars tied the score at 17- and 18-all before a kill gave Chatham a 19-18 advantage. Back-to-back Chatham errors handed Carlow a 20-19 lead, but the Celtics hit a service error of their own to see the score tied again at 20-all.

The teams traded kills to tie the game at 22-22 before two more errors afforded Carlow the 24-22 lead. Chatham tallied a kill, but Cyprowski ended the set with a big kill to win, 25-23.

Carlow started with a 5-3 advantage in the second set before a Chatham kill and two errors in a row tied the game at 11. The Celtics went ahead by three and the Cougars recovered to tie the game again at 16-all. Both teams tied the score several times until the end when Chatham went up, 23-21, and ended the game on a kill and an ace.

The Celtics led almost the entire third set before a service error set off a 6-0 run for the Cougars that put them ahead, 16-14. Carlow tied the game at 17-all and an ace from Michalski put the Celtics ahead by one. Chatham strung together a 6-1 run to lead, 23-19, before a Carlow kill and an ace cut that lead to two. The Cougars called a timeout to regroup, and a Carlow attack error saw Chatham with the set point. The Celtics swung on a kill, but Chatham returned the favor to end the third set, 25-22.

Down two sets to one, the Celtics trailed early in the fourth. Chatham led 11-7 midway through the set before a 7-2 run put Carlow ahead by one. Later, the Celtics trailed 20-18 before Head Coach Val Pennington called a timeout. Cyprowski landed a kill, and two errors gave Carlow a one-point lead once again. The Cougars tied the score three times toward the end, but a set error gave Carlow the lead and Cyprowski produced another big kill to end the game in favor of the Celtics as the teams headed into a fifth set.

Carlow jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the fifth set and forced Chatham to call a timeout early. Upon returning to the court, the Cougars went on a 7-1 run to lead, 7-5. Piccolino hit back-to-back kills to tie the game at 7-all and again in the next serve to give Carlow a 9-8 lead. Taylor hit an ace to put the Celtics ahead, 10-8, before Chatham called its final timeout. The Celtics led 14-11 and a kill cut Carlow's lead to two, but Piccolino swung on the final kill to cement the win for Carlow.

Benjamin Shelestak led the Cougars with 17 kills, while Tyler Mcknight and Tim McCabe added 16 and 13 kills, respectively.

Carlow returns to action with a tri-match at Penn State Behrend Feb. 25.