CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Illinois Tech and Concordia Wisconsin men's volleyball teams played an intense match from start to finish but it was the Falcons who came out on top, 3-2, in a five-set thriller.

The Falcons (7-6, 3-3 NACC) defeated the Scarlet Hawks (1-9, 1-5 NACC) in five sets (19-25, 25-23, 25-20, 19-25, 17-15) at the Keating Sports Center Friday.

How It Happened

•  Illinois Tech won the first set, 25-19, after hitting an .276 for the opening set.
•  Concordia-Wisconsin fought back and tied the match at one after taking the next set, 25-23. The Falcons hit .281 in the set which came a long way to win the set.
•  The Falcons took a 2-1 advantage after taking the third set, 25-20, as Concordia hit an outstanding .440.
•  The Scarlet Hawks did not away easily, winning the fourth set, 25-19, to force a winner-take-all fifth set, after recording an .357 attack percentage.
•  Both teams went back-and-forth in the final set, trading leads, after being tied at 15-all, the Falcons took the next two points and won the match 17-15.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

•  Easton Kays led the Scarlet Hawks on the attack for the night, recording a team-high 22 kills with a .500 attack percentage.
•  Lukasz Kupiec had 13 kills on the night for Illinois Tech.
•  Michael Johnson rounded out the attack for the Scarlet Hawks, picking up 12 kills.
•  Andriy Bench was a force near the net for Illinois Tech with 6 blocks. 
•  Michael Ganczar set people up for the attack all night for the Scarlet Hawks as he picked up 42 assists.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech has a quick turnaround as the Scarlet Hawks host a Tri-Match at the Keating Sports Center, tomorrow March 2. Illinois Tech takes on Lakeland at 1:00 p.m. and Maranatha Baptist at 5:00 p.m.
• Live audio, video, and stats will be available for all home contests in the Keating Sports Center, with the live audio provided by Illinois Media School.