(photo credit: Stephen Bates, WCS Photography)
Posted: Mar 22, 2019
CHICAGO, Ill. -- The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team put up a fight against the No. 9 team in the country as the Milwaukee School of Engineering defeated the Scarlet Hawks in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match, 3-1, Friday.
The Raiders (15-6, 9-2 NACC) defeated the Scarlet Hawks (5-14, 2-9 NACC) in four sets (25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-12) at the Keating Sports Center.
How It Happened
- Illinois Tech was competitive in all four sets. In the opening set, both teams were close throughout, with the Raiders leading 12-11. MSOE went on a run to close out of the set to pull away late.
- The Scarlet Hawks looked to tie the match at 1-all going into the third set, as both teams were tied 9-9 almost midway through the opening set before the Raiders pulled away again to take it.
- Illinois Tech looked to keep the match alive in the third set, and the Scarlet Hawks did just that. After being tied 17-17, Tech outscored MSOE 8-6 the rest of the way to force a fourth set.
- The Scarlet Hawks were looking to force a tiebreaker, winner-take-all fifth set, but MSOE had other plans, having total control of the fourth and final set of the match after being tied 5-5 in the early stages.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
- Andriy Bench led the Scarlet Hawks on the attack with 17 kills, recording a .367 attack percentage and was second on the team with six digs.
- Lukasz Kupiec also had double-digits numbers in kills with 10 of his own and five digs.
- Michael Ganczar picked up a team-high 30 assists.
- Illinois Tech recorded eight blocks as a team at the net including three players with two a piece.
Up Next
- Illinois Tech will have a quick turnaround as the Scarlet Hawks return to action on Saturday, March 23 at home against Dominican at 1:00 p.m. for another NACC match. Live audio, video, and stats will be available, with live audio powered by Illinois Media School.