CHICAGO—The Illinois Institute of Technology men's volleyball team hosted Maranatha Baptist University in a Tuesday-night affair at the Keating Sports Center. A well-balanced attack propelled the Scarlet Hawks as nine players contributed kills while 11 registered a dig in a 3-0 victory over the Sabercats.
IIT's first victory of the season gives them a 1-3 record while Maranatha Baptist falls to 3-8.
"It was nice to try a couple different things offensively tonight and get some other guys on the court," said IIT head men's volleyball coach Mark Johnston. "We are really looking forward to the high level of competition out in Boston."
The Scarlet Hawks registered a 25-19 victory in set one, where Grant Couper went off with five kills in the frame. A convincing 24-16 lead was the case for IIT in the set before three-straight attack errors cut their advantage to 24-19, which provoked a Scarlet Hawk timeout. It paid dividends as a Sabercat setting error secured IIT the 25-19 win in set one.
The second set was all Michal Markevych, whose five kills in the frame propelled the Scarlet Hawks to a 25-13 win. Markevych added four kills in set three, but it was Maranatha Baptist's eight attack errors that doomed them in a 25-21 loss.
Markevych paced IIT with nine kills, all of which occurred in sets two and three. Easton Kays added six kills while Grant Couper notched all five of his kills in the first frame. Derek Bostick paced the Illinois Tech defense with eight digs, while Jannik Birkholz also notched eight digs along with 24 assists. Evan Robeck had a hand in three blocks for IIT.
The Scarlet Hawks will return to action on Friday, February 7 at Endicott College. Game time is set for 5:00 p.m. (CT).