CCIW Men’s Volleyball Notebook (Feb. 7)

STAT REPORT
The latest CCIW women’s volleyball statistics report through Thursday, Feb. 6 can be viewed at this link.
 
UPCOMING SCHEDULE (All times Central)

Friday, Feb. 7
7:00 p.m. | Adrian at (RV) North Central
 
Saturday, Feb. 8
12:00 p.m. | Wittenberg vs. Augustana (Betterdorf, Iowa)
2:00 p.m. | #6 Carthage at #19 Dominican
3:00 p.m. | Olivet at North Park
7:00 p.m. | MSOE at #12 Loras
 
Sunday, Feb. 9
11:00 a.m. | Benedictine at Illinois Wesleyan
12:00 p.m. | Augustana at Rockford
4:00 p.m. | Wabash at Illinois Wesleyan
 
Tuesday, Feb. 11
7:00 p.m. | (RV) North Central at Trinity Christian
7:00 p.m. | Concordia Wisconsin at #6 Carthage
7:00 p.m. | Augustana at Saint Ambrose
 
Thursday, Feb. 13
7:00 p.m. | #12 Loras at Marian
7:00 p.m. | MSOE at North Central
 

IN THE POLLS
Carthage earned two wins over ranked opponents as part of the FrogJump Invitational last week in Kenosha to rise two positions to #6 in the new AVCA rankings released Tuesday. Loras claimed the #12 spot in the new poll.
 
The Firebirds swept then-#5 Juniata last Thursday inside Tarble Arena – the 100th career win for head coach JW Kieckhefer. Carthage then snagged a four-set win over then-#12 Baldwin Wallace on Saturday. CC won two out of three during the event that included a a five-set defeat versus then-#3 Stevens on Friday. Carthage earned 455 points in the poll.
 
Loras had 261 points in the new rankings and slid one spot despite two victories last week. The Duhawks swept Concordia Wisconsin on the road last Friday and also earned a road sweep at Benedictine on Saturday. 
 
NYU was the top team on 17 of 30 ballots to earn the #1 position in the new poll. Southern Virginia seized the other 13 first-place votes for the second spot. Vassar, Juniata and Stevens were the next three teams before Carthage.
 
North Central tallied 16 points in the poll on Tuesday – second-most among unranked teams.
 
NATIONAL NOTABLES
Loras senior outside hitter Corey Mayotte (Geneva, Ill.) is the Division III leader with 6.13 points scored per set. Mayotte also ranks second nationally with 5.11 kills per set, 13th with 0.73 service aces per set, 14th with a .423 hitting percentage and 14th with 9.58 attacks per set.
 
North Park graduate libero Noah Chanthalangsy (Rockford, Ill.) ranks fourth in Division III with 3.56 digs per set.
 
Loras freshman setter Evan Dziadkowiec (Lockport, Ill.) ranks seventh in Division III with 10.05 assists per set.
 
Augustana sophomore setter Colin Schaefer (Northbrook, Ill.) ranks 17th in Division III with 9.14 assists per set.
 
Illinois Wesleyan freshman middle blocker Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.) ranks 19th in Division III with 1.02 blocks per set.
 
Carthage senior libero Zack Noland (Glen Ellyn, Ill.) ranks 20th in Division III with 2.86 digs per set.
 
North Central senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Cooper Lundal (Madison, Wis.) ranks 21st in Division III with a .389 hitting percentage.
 
North Central senior libero Danny Smithers (Naperville, Ill.) ranks 22nd in Division III with 2.84 digs per set.
 
Carthage sophomore opposite hitter Ben Heise (Middleton, Wis.) ranks 23rd in Division III with a .384 hitting percentage.
 
North Park senior middle blocker Sam Robinson (Chicago, Ill.) ranks 24th in Division III with 0.96 blocks per set.
 
AROUND THE CCIW
Augustana has opened the season with a 5-3 overall record. Senior outside hitter/opposite hitter Sean Carlson (Parker, Colo.) has been the Vikings’ top offensive option with 4.02 points scored per set. Carlson had a season-high 21 kills in Augie’s four-set match against Aurora on Jan. 25, then again in a five-set bout with Concordia Wisconsin on Feb. 1. Sophomore setter Colin Schaefer (Northbrook, Ill.) is the team leader in assists with 9.14 per set, while fifth-year libero Max Sellers (Edwardsville, Ill.) contributes 2.70 digs per set. The Vikings will next play Wittenberg on Saturday at noon at Pleasant Valley High School in Bettendorf, Iowa.
 
Three-time CCIW champion Carthage heads into the weekend owning the nation’s sixth ranking thanks to a 6-2 record that includes wins over three ranked opponents – #15 UC Santa Cruz, #5 Juniata and #12 Baldwin Wallce. Three sophomore Firebirds rank among the top 10 in the league in kills per set – outside hitter Owen Otto (Hartford, Wis.) is third with 3.30, outside hitter Owen Hendricks (North Aurora, Ill.) is seventh with 2.63 and opposite hitter Ben Heise (Middleton, Wis.) is 10th with 2.33. Otto’s 3.88 points per set are third overall in the CCIW. The Firebirds will get another opportunity to topple a ranked opponent when they visit #19 Dominican Saturday at 2 p.m.
 
Illinois Wesleyan is off to its best start in program history, racing to an 8-2 record that included a five-set win over #19 Dominican on Thursday night – the Titans’ first-ever win over a top-20 opponent. Sophomore outside hitter Bryce Williams (Chicago, Ill.) currently ranks fourth in the league in scoring with 3.79 points per set that includes 88 kills, 10 service aces and 14 total blocks. Freshman middle blocker Gavin Rohlwing (Tower Lake, Ill.) – the league’s Defensive Student-Athlete of the Week last Monday – tops the CCIW leaderboard in blocks with 1.03 per set. IWU will host two Benedictine (11 a.m.) and Wabash (4 p.m.) in a triangular match this Sunday.
 
Defending CCIW Tournament champion Loras has won four in a row since Jan. 25 to roar a 5-1 record. The Duhawks’ only loss came at the hands of then-top-ranked Southern Virginia on a neutral floor on Jan. 25. Reigning CCIW Offensive Student-Athlete of the Year senior Corey Mayotte (Geneva, Ill.) remains a force for the Duhawks, owning the league lead in kills per set (5.11), service aces per set (0.74) and points per set (6.13). Junior middle blocker Bo Brainerd III (Delafield, Ill.) boasts the league’s top hitting percentage at .533, while freshman setter Evan Dziadkowiwec (Lockport, Ill.) distributes a CCIW-high 10.05 assists per set. The Duhawks, ranked 12th by the AVCA on Tuesday, will visit Marian next Thursday at 7 p.m.
 
North Central has won back to back matches to get back over the .500 mark with a 4-3 record, including a four-set road win over 15th-ranked Aurora on Thursday. Senior middle blocker/opposite hitter Cooper Lundal (Madison, Wis.) has been a versatile weapon for the Cardinals thus far, ranking among the league leaders with a .389 hitting percentage (third) and 0.93 blocks per set (fourth). Junior setter/opposite hitter Carson Steinbach (Media, Penn.) has the third-most assists per set in the CCIW with 7.41, while junior opposite hitter Brannen Almarales (Downers Grove, Ill.) has provided the most offense with 2.91 point scored per set. NCC is home Friday night against Adrian at 7 p.m.
 
North Park hit the win column on Tuesday, earning a five-set win over Wisconsin Lutheran and improving its early-season record to 3-5. The Vikings previous wins came versus Concordia Chicago on opening night (Jan. 17) and Concordia Wisconsin (Jan. 21). Graduate libero Noah Chanthalangsy (Rockford, Ill.) is the league’s current leader in digs with 3.56 per set, while 0.39 service aces per set from sophomore outside hitter Gerald Malana (Dededo, Guam) help make him the league’s fifth-ranked scorer at 3.27 points scored per set.  Malana is joined on the league leaderboard in kills by senior outside hitter Ty Ingrao (Rockford, Ill.), whose 2.67 kills per set are fifth-most in the CCIW. NPU will host Olivet Saturday at 3 p.m.