KENOSHA, Wis. – Facing its second ranked opponent on the road in a span of five days, Augustana dropped a straight-set decision to ninth-rated Carthage Wednesday at Tarble Arena. The Vikings fell to 1-3 on the season and 0-1 in the CCIW, while the hosts improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in the league.
 
Carthage took control of set one with an 11-4 run midway through. Bryce Thomas had two kills and Carter Schmidt a kill and an ace in the spurt, which took the score from nine-all to 20-13. Matt Slivinski's kill finished off a 25-17 Carthage win.
 
Slivinski had four kills as the hosts jumped on top 8-2 in game two. Jerod Hesse's (Grayslake North HS, Lake Villa, Ill.) kill stemmed the tide temporarily, but Carthage took the next four points and Augustana would get no closer than eight the rest of the way. Set point in a 25-11 Carthage win came on a Zach Bulthuis kill.
 
A Bulthuis kill snapped an eight-all tie in game three, sparking a 6-1 run that put Carthage up 14-9. The Vikings got as close as 16-14 on a Luis Zavala (Lincoln-Way East HS, Frankfort, Ill.) kill, but the Kenoshans got kills from Slivinski, Schmidt and Thomas in extending their advantage to 24-16. Another Slivinski kill gave the hosts match point in a 25-18 win.
 
Junior Caleb Minnis (Downers Grove South HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) led Augustana with nine kills. Junior Sanchit Khaitan (Glenbard North HS, Bloomingdale, Ill.) finished with 22 assists and senior Brett Kliegl (Neuqua Valley HS, Bolingbrook, Ill.) with six digs. Slivinksi had 13 kills and Schmidt 10 for Carthage. Gene McNulty contributed match highs of 29 assists and 11 digs.
 
Coach Mike Ducey's club is scheduled to play its 2021 home opener on Saturday, February 20, when Millikin invades the Carver Center for a 7:00 p.m. match.