by Eric Willuweit

Chicago, Ill. – The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team opened up their 2023 campaign with a non-conference loss to SUNY New Paltz 3-0 in a matinee match at the Keating Sports Center. The Scarlet Hawks begin the season 0-1, while New Paltz starts 1-0 as they complete a swing around the Chicago area for additional matches against local teams.

The match marked the head coaching debut for Illinois Tech's Mike Oswald, who took over the men's program this summer from Mark Johnston, with Johnston focusing his coaching duties on the women's volleyball program.

"Everyone hopes for a great first match and while the results might not show it, we all feel like we're right where we need to be" said Oswald. "We know some tweaks we need to make during the next couple practices and our consistency at the service line is going to improve along with the other areas. Now it's about how fast we can become proficient in those areas and identify new pieces to add" concluded Oswald.

How It Happened

New Paltz 3 – Illinois Tech 0

• New Paltz jumped out to a 6-0 lead in set one before the Scarlet Hawks could get on the board. The teams traded points for the next six plays before New Paltz went on a 7-3 run to open up a 16-6 lead.  The Scarlet Hawks mounted a comeback, taking eight of the next 10 points to close the gap to 18-14. New Paltz was able to right the ship, however, finishing with a 7-4 run to take set one, 25-18.
• Set two turned out to be the most competitive, with the Scarlet Hawks and New Paltz trading points through a 9-9 tie score. From there, Illinois Tech used a 9-3 run to build an 18-12 late in the set. The six-point advantage for the Scarlet Hawks would not sustain, however, as New Paltz used a 4-0 run to close to 18-16. After an Illinois Tech timeout, the Scarlet Hawks won three of the next four points for a 21-17 lead. New Paltz again countered, winning five of the next six points to tie the set at 22-22. The Scarlet Hawks were able to reach set point on three different occasions, but each time New Paltz responded, eventually breaking set point while trailing 26-25, and winning the next two points for a 28-26 set two victory.
• After an early two-point lead, the Scarlet Hawks surrendered 12 of the next 16 points to New Paltz, giving the visitors a 12-6 lead. Winning three of the next five points only cut the Scarlet Hawks deficit to five points at 14-9, which is the closest they would get to New Paltz the rest of the way. New Paltz closed out with an 11-8 run to win set three 25-17, and take the match 3-0.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Riley Laite paced the Hawks with 5 kills.
• Grant Couper added 4 kills and 2 service aces.
• Elijah Johnson led with 14 assists.

New Paltz Hawks Watch

• Brendan Spulnick led New Paltz with 10 kills.
• AJ Fitzgerald added 9 kills.
• Kyle Shaffer had 21 assists.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks will head to Naperville this Saturday for a tri-match with Wittenberg and the host North Central (IL) Cardinals. The match with Wittenberg starts at 2:30 PM, followed by the match with the Cardinals at 5:00 PM.