by Eric Willuweit

Thousand Oaks, Calif. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team traveled west this weekend, with a pair of matches at the Cal Lutheran Invitational on Saturday. The Scarlet Hawks came up short in both contests, dropping the first match to UC Santa Cruz 3-0, followed by a 3-0 loss to host Cal Lutheran in the evening match. The Scarlet Hawks fell to 3-9 overall on the season.

How It Happened

• UC Santa Cruz 3 - Illinois Tech 0
  • The Scarlet Hawks were down 4-0 early in the opening set, and could never recover. The Hawks only had one stretch in the opening frame where they strung together consecutive points, but it was only a 2-0 run midway through the set, ultimately won by the Banana Slugs 25-14.
  • UC Santa Cruz again opened set play with an early run, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in set two before the Scarlet Hawks could tally their first point. The Hawks would continue to battle though, using three 2-0 runs, followed by a 3-0 run late in the set to close within three points at 20-17. The Banana Slugs would counter, however, completing a 5-2 run to close out set two 25-19.
  • Set three was a slight reversal of fortune for Illinois Tech, as they were able to grab an early 2-1 lead. unfortunately the Scarlet Hawks could not sustain the early success, and UC Santa Cruz followed with runs of 4-0 and 5-0 to build a 10-3 lead. The Scarlet Hawks would close within five points midway through the set at 13-8, but they would not be able to get any closer, as the Banana Slugs powered through with a 12-5 run to take set three 25-19 and win the match 3-0.

• Cal Lutheran 3 - Illinois Tech 0 
  • As in the first set against UC Santa Cruz, the Scarlet Hawks again fell behind 4-0 in the opening set against Cal Lutheran. However, that is where the first set similarities ended, as the Hawks responded with a 3-0 run to trail 4-3 early. The early set success was not sustainable, however, as Cal Lutheran was able to counter with a 7-3 run to open up an 11-6 lead. Illinois Tech closed within three points at 12-9, but could not pull closer, losing set one 25-19.
  • Set two was the tightest battle of the three sets against the Kingsmen, with the Scarlet Hawks holding two early leads of 5-4 and 9-8. Cal Lutheran reclaimed control of the match when they pushed to a 17-13 lead midway through the set. The Hawks used a 10-4 run to gain back the lead at 23-21, with a chance to claim set two. However, the Kingsmen closed out set two with a 4-0 run to take set two 25-23.
  • The Scarlet Hawks held multiple leads in the final set, including a 10-7 advantage. A subsequent 6-1 run by Cal Lutheran was the turning point in the set though, allowing the Kingsmen to take a 13-11 lead, one that they would never relinquish. The Scarlet Hawks would close within one point on 7 occasions, including trailing 19-18 late. A 6-2 run by Cal Lutheran finished set 3 25-20 and gave the Kingsmen their 3-0 match victory.

  Scarlet Hawk Standouts – Combined Matches

• Riley Laite paced the Scarlet Hawks with 16 kills and 38 receptions on the afternoon.
• Michal Markevych added 12 kills.
• Jackson Van Engen had 9 kills with a .438 attack rate. He also added 3 block assists.
• Jelani Kimoto had four total blocks. 
• Elijah Johnson had 47 assists.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks will continue their road-heavy portion of the schedule next Saturday, when they travel to Angola, Ind. for a non-conference tri-match with Maranatha Baptist (12:30 PM CST) and host Trine University (3:00 PM CST).