by Eric Willuweit
River Forest, Ill. – Briar Moore had 23 kills, Zoe Michael added 19, and the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team survived a five-set marathon with Dominican University, defeating the Stars 3-2 Tuesday night at the Igini Sports Forum in River Forest. The Scarlet Hawks snapped a three-game losing streak, and improved to 5-5 in NACC play, and 13-8 overall. The Stars dropped to 3-7 in conference, and 6-15 overall.
The victory moved the Scarlet Hawks up one notch in the standings, to seventh place. They have three conference games remaining to try and claim one of the final two tournament seeds, either the fifth or sixth seed.
How It Happened
Illinois Tech 3 – Dominican 2
- Dominican held a 15-11 lead in set one before a service error by Dominican opened the door for a Scarlet Hawks comeback. The service error, along with eight straight points from the Hawks off Allison Wilkins serves gave Illinois Tech a 20-15 lead. The Hawks outscored the Stars 5-3 the rest of the way for the 25-18 set one victory.
- Illinois Tech held a brief early lead at 5-4 in set two, but a 3-0 run by the Stars gave them a 7-5 lead, and they would never trail the rest of the set. The Scarlet Hawks pulled within one point at 10-9 midway through the set, but a follow-up 7-2 run by Dominican gave the Stars 17-11 lead. The Stars won eight of the final 15 points to secure the 25-18 set two victory.
- Set three saw the Scarlet Hawks trailing most of the first half of the set until a Victoria Vann kill and a Kelsey Starnes service ace tied the set at 11-11. The Hawks then used an 8-0 run to open a 21-12 advantage, en route to a 25-19 set three victory.
- Illinois Tech led only once in set four, with an early 2-1 advantage. The Stars used an 11-3 run to take command of the set at 12-5. A 4-0 run by the Hawks pulled them within three points at 12-9, but Dominican responded with a 7-3 run to reclaim their seven-point advantage at 19-12. The Scarlet Hawks battled back using a 10-3 run to tie the set at 22-22. The Stars would shut down the Hawks attack the rest of the set, using a 3-0 run to take set four 25-22.
- The fifth and final set saw Illinois Tech hold a five-point lead on three separate occasions, the last at 9-4. Dominican would not go quietly, however, using a 5-0 run to take a 13-12 lead. The Hawks and Stars would trade match point advantages, with Illinois Tech having three chances to take the match, while the Stars held two match point opportunities. With the scored tied at 18-18, the Hawks got back-to-back kills from Michael to claim the set five victory, 20-18. The Scarlet Hawks saved their best offense for the fifth set, finishing with 16 kills in the deciding frame, and a .389 attack percentage.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
- In addition to her 23 kills, Moore finished with a .293 attack percentage and 14 digs.
- Michael had 19 kills.
- Jessica Weaver had 9 kills, 2 service aces and 4 block assists.
- Wilkins paced the team with 28 assists, while adding 9 digs.
- Starnes had 14 digs and 2 service aces
- Ellie Leach led the Hawks with 3 service aces.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks return home Friday, October 21, when Concordia Wisconsin comes to the Keating Sports Center at 7:00 P.M. for a critical conference matchup.