The Aurora University men's volleyball team opened the non-conference match with No. 4 Carthage College strong, winning the opening set 25-22. The rest of the match was well played on both sides of the court but the Spartans came up short, falling 3-1.  The first set win for AU gave the Redbirds their first set loss of the season.

THE BASICS
MATCH SCORE: #4 Carthage College 3, Aurora University 1 (25-22, 20-25, 23-25, 19-25)
LOCATION: River Forest, Illinois.
RECORDS: Aurora University 4-4 overall; Carthage College 7-0 overall 

HOW IT HAPPENED
- Fantastic volleyball was in store for tonight's contest and it started from the opening serve.
- The first set saw 12 tie scores and six lead changes with a Timothy Breiter kill to put AU up 21-20 giving the Spartans the final lead change of the game.
- The Spartans hit .222 in the set led by five kills each from Breiter and Justin Elliott.
- With the second set tied 9-9, Carthage had a five point run to take a 14-9 lead.
- AU mounted a comeback but didn't have enough, falling 25-20.
- The Spartans led or were tied for the entire third set until a late Carthage run gave the visitors the last lead change of the set.
- Facing set point and trailing 24-20, AU rallied to within one at 24-23 but couldn't manage the final points needed, falling 25-23.
- An ace from Thomas Kovanic gave AU a 3-2 lead in the fourth set but that was the last lead the Spartans would hold.
- AU tried battling back into the set and match but fell 25-19.

SPARTAN TEAM LEADERS
Kills: Justin Elliott (18) and Timothy Breiter (11)
Assists: James Karwin (37)
Blocks: James Karwin (4)
Aces: James Karwin (3)
Digs: Brandon Langys and Justin Elliott (5)

UP NEXT
Next action for the Spartan men's volleyball team comes on Tuesday, March 9 when they are scheduled to host Benedictine University. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. in Thornton Gymnasium.