NAPERVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team partook in a tri-match on Saturday at North Central College. The Scarlet Hawks fell to Fontbonne University in straight sets before falling to the Cardinals 3-1.

How it Happened –Fontbonne Match

• Illinois Tech and Fontbonne played a back-and-forth match early on. Tech was the first team to take control, taking the set's first two-point lead at 9-7. The Griffins, however, seized the lead with a 3-0 run to go up 12-11. The Scarlet Hawks never took the lead back and fell 25-19. 
• Set two was the match's most exciting. After an early 7-3 Fontbonne advantage, Tech fought back and tied the score at 18-18. The Scarlet Hawks never trailed by more than two the rest of the set, but the Griffins held off Tech to win 27-25.
• In set three, the Scarlet Hawks trailed 6-3 early before taking a 9-7 lead. A 7-1 Fontbonne run gave the Griffins the lead for good, as the opponents won the set 25-16.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – Fontbonne Match

• Evan Robeck and Yuriy Shepta tied for the team lead with eight kills. Shepta also led the squad with a .250 hitting percentage.
• Lukasz Kupiec added 27 assists to lead the Hawks.
• David Allen tallied three service aces.
• Paulo Sassmannschausen had three block assists.

How it Happened – North Central Match

• The first set belonged to Illinois Tech. North Central took an early lead, going up by as much as four at 14-10. However, the Scarlet Hawks worked back to take a late lead, icing the set on an Allen kill to win 25-23.
• The Cardinals went up big early in set two (11-5). While the Scarlet Hawks managed to stay close, the team never led as NCC won 25-22.
• In set three, Tech led 4-3 before the Cardinals rattled off five straight points. After the Scarlet Hawks worked back to tie the score at 11 on a Michael Drews ace, an 8-2 Cardinals run put the set out of reach. NCC took the 2-1 lead with a 25-19 score.
• Set four was controlled by the hosts, as North Central took its first lead at 3-2 and never looked back. The Cardinals used a 7-0 run to propel to a 25-18 win.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – North Central Match

• Drews and Robeck each led the team with 10 kills. Robeck led the team with a .273 hitting percentage and three total blocks (one solo, two assisted).
• Kupiec added 29 assists to lead the team.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will head to Olivet, Michigan on Saturday to close out the season with one final tri-match. Tech will take on Wittenberg at 1:00 p.m. before facing host Olivet at 3:00 p.m.