NAPERVILLE -- Matches featuring two teams in top half of the College Conference of Illinois & Wisconsin (CCIW) men's volleyball standings on Saturday and again on Wednesday highlight six league games on the upcoming schedule.

Upcoming Schedule (Subject to change)
Saturday, March 25
Augustana at North Park, 2 p.m.
#6 Carthage at Illinois Wesleyan, 3 p.m.
#7 North Central at Loras, 3 p.m.
 
Sunday, March 26
Augustana at #7 North Central, 1 p.m.
 
Wednesday, March 29
#6 Carthage at Loras, 7 p.m.
North Park at Illinois Wesleyan, 7 p.m.
 
CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week (Hitter): Carter Schmidt, Carthage
Schmidt gave the defending CCIW champions 12 kills, two service aces and a .435 attack percentage in the Firebirds’ 25-17, 27-25, 25-18 sweep of Augustana on Wednesday in Rock Island. His 15.5 points scored led all players in the contest and marked his sixth match of 15.0 points or more in 2023, and the Germantown, Wis. native is now a three-time CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week this season.
 
CCIW Student-Athlete of the Week (Defense/Setter/Libero): Gene McNulty, Carthage
McNulty assisted on 31 of Carthage’s 33 kills in the win. The junior from Oak Lawn, Ill. also contributed four digs, two block assists and a solo block to earn the league’s defense/setter/libero honor for the week.
 
Standings Check: With a little more than two weeks left in the 2023 regular season, #7 North Central is the final unbeaten squad in the CCIW standings with a perfect 6-0 mark. #6 Carthage is right behind the Cardinals with a 5-1 record, followed by Loras in third position at 4-2.
 
The top four teams in the final regular-season standings qualify for the third annual CCIW Tournament. The semifinal round is scheduled for Wednesday, April 12, followed by the championship match on Saturday, April 15.
 
Cardinals’ Crazy Eight: North Central, still ranked seventh in the most recent NVA/AVCA Division III poll, pushed its win streak to eight with a three-set sweep of Marian last Friday and a four-game league triumph over Illinois Wesleyan on Wednesday in Naperville.
 
The current streak is NCC’s longest stretch without a defeat since opening the 2022 season with 10 wins in a row.
 
The Cardinals will face a tough road challenge Saturday at third-place Loras. NCC owns an 8-5 record against the Duhawks all-time since 2016, including a five-set win over LC in Naperville on March 4. First serve in Dubuque is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
Loras Nets Third Straight League Sweep: Loras went on the road Wednesday to defeat Augustana at the Carver Center, 25-13, 25-16, 25-22. The Duhawks, led by 12 kills from Dorian Fiorenza, attacked at a .486 clip and committed only nine errors during the match.
 
Patrick Mahoney recorded four block assists in Wednesday’s victory in Rock Island. The graduate student from Oak Lawn, Ill. averages 1.4 blocks per set – most in Division III. 
 
Loras has now won three in a row – all in three games – since suffering back-to-back losses to North Central (March 4) and Carthage (March 8). The Duhawks are 15-3 in 2023 and earned 18 points in Tuesday’s national poll – most among unranked teams.
 
North Park Sweeps Tri-Match Near Boston: North Park put the brakes on its four-match losing streak in a big way – earning victories in both matches of a tri-match in Franklin, Mass. The Vikings swept Dean last Saturday, then needed only three sets to put away Fisher in the afternoon.
 
The decisions pulled NPU’s record level at 11-11 overall. Pablo Ocasio logged nine kills without an error on 10 swings in the morning victory over Dean before Adekunle Adebayo broke a single-match North Park record with 10 service aces in the win over Fisher. NPU had 24 aces as a team against Fisher – also a school record.
 
Chicago is the site for North Park’s return to CCIW play. The Vikings will host Augustana Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.