Men’s Volleyball wins first set of the season, goes 0-2 at Potsdam tri-match

POTSDAM, N.Y. --- Carlow University men's volleyball concluded its tri-match at SUNY Potsdam 0-2 Saturday afternoon.

The Celtics (0-12) fell to host SUNY Potsdam 3-1 and lost 3-0 to SUNY Polytechnic Institute in the second match of the day.

vs. SUNY Potsdam: L, 3-1 (17-25, 14-25, 25-23, 18-25)

Carlow won its first set of the season against the Bears (13-7) in the noon game.

The Celtics hit .280 with 10 kills and just three errors to win the third set, 25-23.

The Bears went ahead 6-2 to begin the third set and kept Carlow at arm's length until the midway point. A kill from Jaden Michalski (Pittsburgh, Pa./Obama Academy) set off a 9-2 run that gave the Celtics an 18-16 lead. Carlow held onto its tenuous advantage until two kills and a service ace by Potsdam tied the game at 21-all. The teams traded points, with the Bears tying the score at 22- and 23-all. Carlow secured the win with a kill by Michalski with the winning point punctuated by an ace from Ryan Callahan (Pittsburgh, Pa./Shaler Area HS).

Luke Campana (Pittsburgh, Pa./Baldwin HS) led Carlow with game- and season-high 11 kills. Gavin McLain (Acworth, Ga./North Paulding HS) added eight kills, and Angelo Fernandez (Williamsport, Pa./St. John Neumann Regional Academy) picked up seven digs. Callahan contributed three service aces and 22 assists in the effort.

Carlow tied the score several times in the first set, but Potsdam ended the set with a 5-0 run for the 25-17 win. The Bears jumped out to a 10-3 lead and pushed their advantage to 18-4 enroute to a 25-14 win in the second set. A 15-4 lead to start the fourth set proved to be too much for the Celtics, who outscored the Bears 9-5 to end the set, but lost 25-18.

Benson Jovel-Truong led Potsdam with eight kills and eight digs on the day. Christopher Wong landed five of the Bears' 12 aces.

vs. SUNY Polytechnic Institute: L, 3-0 (25-9, 25-15, 25-12)

The Wildcats (17-11) hit .422 with 16 service aces to sweep the Celtics in the second match of the day.

McLain led Carlow with five kills, while Michalski picked up four digs and landed the Celtics' lone ace in the game. Campana added two solo blocks in the effort.

SUNY Poly jumped out to a 12-1 lead and did not commit a single hitting error enroute to a 25-9 first set victory.

The Celtics kept it close to start the second set before a 9-2 run launched the Wildcats to a 17-7 advantage. Several SUNY Poly errors and a kill from Callahan saw Carlow trailing by seven, but the Wildcats pushed on to win, 25-15.

Carlow earned the first point to start the third set, but a service error by the Celtics handed the ball back to SUNY Poly who jumped out to a 13-3 lead. The Celtics could not recover from the deficit and lost the final set, 25-12.

Aiden Passmore led the Wildcats with a game-high nine kills and five aces. Brendan Palmer and Nicholas Giuliano tallied five digs apiece.

Carlow hosts Penn State Altoona for a 7 p.m. AMCC match March 25.