By Jami Sponaugle

Aurora, Ill. - The Illinois Tech women's volleyball team fell to the Aurora University Spartans on Tuesday 3-0. The Spartans handed the Scarlet Hawks a 25-14, 25-20, 25-18 loss in Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference action. 

How It Happened

• Aurora started off the set strong and continued to increase their lead over Illinois Tech. The Hawks fought to stay within reach, but the Spartans pulled away at the end, defeating the Hawks 25-14. 

• Once again, the Spartans kicked off the set strong. In set two, the Spartans built an 8-0 unanswered lead. The Hawks clawed their way back slowly, coming within two at 12-14 before the Spartans took four straight points. Five points would be the difference in the set as the Spartans picked up the 25-20 set two victory. 

• Set three saw the Spartans take the third set to secure the victory over the Hawks.The Hawks fought in the beginning, making it a 7-10 match in favor of the Spartans. Illinois Tech attempted to remain close, but Aurora proved to be too much as they defeated the Hawks 25-18 in the set for the match victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Jessica Weaver led the Hawks with six kills. Maria Fernanda Alcantara, Sadie Harrington, Ana Jones, and Zoe Michael all recorded four kills a piece. 

• Stephanie Nguyen had two service aces.

Inside the Box Score

• In the second set, the Hawks held a 15-13 kill advantage over the Spartans.

• Overall, the Spartans led the Hawks 41-30 in kills.

• The Hawks ended with 29 digs compared to the Spartans 41.

Up Next

The Hawks look to turn things around this weekend when they take part in the Rose-Hulman Volleyball Invitational hosted by Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. On Friday the Hawks will be taking on the Hanover College Panthers at 6:00 p.m. Then, on Saturday, the Hawks compete against the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers at 10:00 a.m. and the Manchester University Spartans at 12:30 p.m.