CHICAGO, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team hosted a senior day tri-match on Saturday, hosting Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) foe Benedictine as well as MIT for a non-conference match. Tech fell to fifth-ranked BenU 3-0 before lost to MIT by the same score.

Set Scores – BenU Match

• #5 BenU 3, Tech 0: 18-25, 24-26, 11-25

How it Happened – BenU Match

• Although the Eagles would jump ahead 5-0, Illinois Tech was not going to make things easy for the nationally-ranked conference leaders. The Scarlet Hawks were able to work to stay within striking distance all set long, but Benedictine held Tech off through to go ahead 1-0.
• In set two, the Scarlet Hawks played inspired, outhitting the Eagles .353% to .250%. However, Benedictine was able to find different ways to hold a lead for most of the match. The Eagles led 24-19 late before the Scarlet Hawks went on a 5-0 run, forcing two BenU timeouts. BenU scored the sets final to points to win narrowly.
• The third set was all Benedictine, as the visitors won convincingly behind six service aces.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – BenU Match

• Andriy Bench led the team in both kills (12), blocks (one solo, three assisted), and hit percentage (.308%).
• Michael Ganczar tallied 29 assists to lead the team.

Set Scores – MIT Match

• MIT 3, Tech 0: 16-25, 20-25, -25

How it Happened – MIT Match

• The Engineers were ahead for the entirety of set one thanks to a .435 hit percentage. This was despite a solid first set for senior Lukas Kupiec, who played both outside hitter and setter in the opening portion of the match and tallied three kills, three assists, a solo block, and a .400 hit percentage.
• While the Scarlet Hawks kept things closer in set two, MIT's offense still clicked. The team hit .458% as the Engineers rose to the occasion.
• In set three, the Engineers took control after the set was tied at 8-8, going on an 8-1 run to put the match away.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – MIT Match

• Ganczar led the team with 21 assists.
• Easton Kays had eight kills and a .217 hit percentage.
• Evan Robeck added five kills with a .500 hit percentage. He also had two block assists.

Up Next

• While Tech's home schedule has come to a close, the team still has two road matches left to play. The first of those two will be at Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons on Friday, April 5 at 7:00 p.m.
• The Scarlet Hawks trail the Falcons by one game for the final NACC Tournament spot.