The inaugural season for Benedictine University men's volleyball is winding down, as just three contests remain on the year. Two of those matches will take place this week, as the Eagles will travel to Dominican University on Wednesday night and host Carthage College on Saturday afternoon in the final home match of the season.
 
With the top four teams in the Midwest Collegiate Volleyball League qualifying for the conference tournament, the sixth-place Eagles (7-13, 4-7) will not be heading to this season's tournament. The Eagles currently sit three matches behind fourth-place Lakeland College (13-14, 6-4) with three matches remaining, having already fallen to Lakeland twice on the season. A first-year program, the Eagles finished the highest out of the MCVL's three schools competing in its inaugural season, placing above Fontbonne University (5-20, 1-11) and Loras College (3-18, 1-11).
  
The nationally-ranked Stars will be heading to the MCVL Tournament in mid-April, currently sitting in third place in the conference with a chance to move to second or fourth depending on the final matches of the regular season. After a four-match wining streak earlier this month that included a victory over nationally-ranked Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dominican has scuffled of late, dropping three of the final four matches. The only win in the recent stretch came against Fontbonne, who is tied for last in the MCVL.
 
Dominican and BenU played a five-set thriller early in the conference season at the Dan and Ada Rice Center. The Stars prevailed, taking sets one, three, and five to stave off the Eagles. John Mathews and Eric Tarnow each tallied 11 kills for the Eagles in the defeat, while Ian Thompson contributed 15 digs.
  
Currently ranked eighth in the country, the Red Men of Carthage have been the MCVL's top team and one of the nation's best all season long. Heading into the home stretch of the season, Carthage appears to be getting stronger, having won four consecutive matches this past weekend in Buffalo, New York and posting a 9-2 record in March. With three matches remaining, first-place Carthage is two and a half matches ahead of second-place Mount St. Joseph University (16-8, 9-3) in the MCVL standings.
 
The Red Men and Eagles met in Kenosha, Wisconsin back on Feburary 7 in a match that opened MCVL play for both teams. BenU took set one 25-21, but Carthage responded by winning the final three sets. Sterling Glover contributed 14 kills to lead Benedicitne, while Markus Riemer, Glover, Thompson, and Jake Moran added double-digit dig totals.