CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team closed out the home schedule in style on Friday night, coming back after a tough first set to down the Aurora University Spartans 3-1.

Scores

• Tech 3, Aurora 1 (20-25, 25-17, 25-14, 25-23)

How it Happened

• The Spartans impressed out of the gate, holding off the Scarlet Hawks early on to build a 17-11 lead. Tech would manage to score a few points late, but the Spartans remained ahead throught to win 25-20.
• In set two, the Scarlet Hawks began with an 8-4 run before the Spartans rattled off three straight. Tech, however, responded by increasing the lead to 18-10. The advantage stayed steady the rest of the way as Tech evened the match.
• Set three was a build-off of set two, as the Scarlet Hawks used a 7-0 run to jump ahead 13-6. While Aurora attempted to remain close, a 7-1 later on bumped the lead to double-digits at 22-12, an insurmountable lead for the visitors.
• The fourth and final set saw a rejunvinated Spartan team, scoring first and climing a lead to 16-11. The Scarlet Hawks would respond, going on a 9-2 run to grab a 20-18 lead and force an Aurora timeout. After another Tech point, AU scored four straight to go up 22-21. With the score then tied at 23-23, a Lukasz Kupiec kill and attack error by Justin Elliott gave Tech the 3-1 win.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Cinjun Coe was awesome, tallying 22 kills, nine digs, and a .288 hit percentage. He also has three aces.
• Kupiec had 12 kills, seven digs, and three total blocks (two solo, one assisted).
• Ben Peschl (27) and Daniel Throop (13) both recorded double-digits in assists. Throop had three blocks as well (two assisted, one solo), while Peschl led the team with 13 digs.

Stats to Know

• Tech had 47 kills compared to Aurora's 34.
• Digs were in favor of Tech 48-39.
• Both teams had plenty or service errors. Tech had 16 compared to Aurora's 12.

Up Next

• Tech plays at Olivet College on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. central time (7:00 p.m. eastern).