by Eric Willuweit

Naperville, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team took to the road Saturday afternoon, competing in a tri-match at North Central College in Naperville against the host Cardinals and the Wittenberg University Tigers. The Scarlet Hawks came out of it on the short end in both matches, losing to Wittenberg 3-1 in the first match, and falling 3-0 to North Central in the nightcap. The Scarlet Hawks fell to 0-3 on the young season.

How It Happened

• Wittenberg 3 - Illinois Tech 1
  • After winning the first set 25-23, the Scarlet Hawks battled from behind in set two to take an 18-14 lead. The Tigers would win the next three points to pull within one point at 18-17. The Hawks would extend their lead to 23-20 and held set point at 24-22. Unfortunately the Hawks couldn't close out the set, as Wittenberg stormed back to win the next four points, and take set two 26-24.
  • Midway through set three, the Scarlet Hawks held a brief lead of 11-10. It would be the last lead Illinois Tech would have in the set, as the Tigers took eight of the next ten points to open up an 18-13 lead. The Hawks would get no closer than three points the rest of the set, as Wittenberg took set three 25-19.
  • Set four played out similar to set three, with the Scarlet Hawks taking a short-lived lead at 15-14 midway through the set. Wittenberg responded with a 6-1 run to open a 20-16 lead, on their way to another 25-19 set victory, and securing the match 3-1.

• North Central 3 - Illinois Tech 0 
  • The Scarlet Hawks were able to pull even with the Cardinals very early in set one at 2-2, but Illinois Tech was never able to take a lead. A 5-0 run by North Central gave the Cardinals a 7-2 lead, a lead they would never surrender en route to a 25-20 set one victory.
  • Set two was the most competitive set for the Scarlet Hawks in this match, with 11 tie scores and two lead changes. The Hawks were able to get to set point at 25-24, but the Cardinals responded with a 3-0 run to close out set two 27-25.
  • Once again, the Hawks battled early and pulled within one point at 7-6 in set three. A modest 3-0 run by the Cardinals have them a 10-6 lead, and the Hawks would never get closer than three points the rest of the way, with North Central extending their lead to seven points on two occasions, including the final set three score of 25-18, clinching the match for the Cardinals.

  Scarlet Hawk Standouts – Tri-match Combined

• Riley Laite paced the Scarlet Hawks with 20 kills on the afternoon and finished second with 44 receptions. He also tied for the team lead with two service aces.
• Paul Henderson added 14 kills to go along with his two service aces.
• Jackson Van Engen finished with 13 kills and led the team with a .290 attack rate. He also tied for the team lead with 3 blocks.
• Elijah Johnson had 32 assists while Eli Sherman had 28 assists.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks continue road play next Friday and Saturday, when they travel to Alliance, Ohio for a trio of non-conference matches. Illinois Tech will take on Thiel at 4:00 PM CT on Friday, followed by a 6:00 PM CT match against host Mount Union. The Hawks conclude their trip to Mount Union with a Saturday morning matchup against Mount St. Joseph at 11:00 AM CT.