By Jami Sponaugle

Chicago, Ill. - Welcoming the Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors and Baldwin Wallace Yellow Jackets, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's volleyball team hosted a tri-match inside the Keating Sports Center on Saturday. Game one against the Warriors was considered a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) match, while game two against the Yellow Jackets a non-conference match-up. 

In game one the Hawks (7-10, 3-1) looked to continue where they left off from Friday's match. The Hawks swept the Warriors (4-13, 0-4) with a 3-0 win after going 25-16, 25-18, and 25-20.

Game two saw the Hawks (7-11, 3-1) battle with the Yellow Jackets (18-6, 1-0). Although the Yellow Jackets won three straight, the Hawks kept it close in each set. In the end, the Hawks fell 25-22, 26-24, 26-24.

Game One

Illinois Tech 3 - Wisconsin Lutheran 0

• In the first set, the Hawks quickly took the first three points to put themselves ahead and never looked back. The Hawks took set one 25-16.

• Matching set one, the Hawks jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Eventually, the Warriors closed in on the Hawks and tied set two at 11-11. After the brief tie, the Hawks went back on top through the end of the set, taking set two 25-18.

• Things started out different in the third set, with the two sides battling. Every time the Hawks took a point to get ahead, the Warriors tied it immediately. After being tied at 7-7, the Hawks converted two points to take the lead. The Hawks would stay ahead for a bit before the two sides were once again tied at 16-16. After some ties and lead changes, the Hawks found themselves back in the lead. Securing the match victory, the Hawks won set three 25–20.  

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Jackson Van Engen led the Hawks with 11 kills, recording a .733 kill percentage. Van Engen picked up 1 block solo and 3 block assists.

• Michal Markevych had 10 kills, 15 total attacks, a .533 kills percentage, 1 service ace, and 1 block assist.

• Bryan Evans notched 10 kills, led the Hawks with 20 total attacks, had a .400 kill percentage, 1 service ace, led in digs with 10, 1 block solo, and 1 block assist. 

• Eli Sherman tallied 33 assists. 

Warriors Standouts

• Drew Wempner led the Warriors in kills and total attacks, recording 8 and 23 throughout the match. Wempner finished with a .261 kills percentage, 1 service ace, 3 digs, and 2 block assists. 

• Marcus Fitzsimmons ended the match with 5 kills, 17 total attacks, and 1 block assist. 

Game Two

Baldwin Wallace 3 - Illinois Tech 0

• The Hawks took three straight points to begin the match. After the Hawks took a 401 lead, the Yellow Jackets went on a 5-0 run to take a 6-4 lead. Action then began to go back-and-forth with neither side able to get ahead of the other. Eventually, the Yellow Jackets broke away from the Hawks to take a 25-22 set one victory. 

• Again, the Hawks began set two with a 3-0 run. The Hawks would stay ahead for most of the set while the Yellow Jackets slowly closed in on their lead. The set would be tied for the first time at 22-22, followed by 23-23, and then 24-24. The Yellow Jackets were able to secure the last two set points to win set two 26-24. 

• Action began in favor of the Yellow Jackets for the third set, with the visiting team taking the first two points before the Hawks picked one up. The game stayed in favor of the Yellow Jackets until the Hawks tied the match for the first time at 8-8. In total, there were 10 ties throughout all of set three, which eventually turned in favor of the Yellow Jackets who secured the match victory with a third set 26-24 win. 

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

• Riley Laite led in kills and total attacks with 10 and 23 respectively. Laite finished with 2 service aces, 5 digs, and 1 block solo.

• Van Engen had 6 kills, 14 total attacks, a .214 kill percentage, 1 service ace, 2 block solos, and 2 block assists. 

Yellow Jackets Standouts

• Michael Beard tied for the lead in kills with 11 and led the Yellow Jackets in total attacks with 27. Beard finished with a .185 kill percentage, 1 service ace, 6 digs, and a block assist.

• Michael Devin tied for the lead in kills with 11 and finished with 26 total attacks, a .154 kill percentage, 2 service aces, 3 digs, and 2 block assists.

Head Coach Mike Oswalds Comments

"We checked off some must win conference matches. Going 2 for 2 in NACC play was the main goal. We're confident but not quite comfortable in the big moments yet. I'm lucky to feel like we're going to get used to big moments these next couple of weeks. Great serving and attacking from BWU pressured us into some mistakes from trying to overcompensate at times. We're looking forward to lots of great practices and three awesome matches this coming week!"

Up Next

On Wednesday, the Hawks continue NACC action when they host the Concordia University Chicago Cougars in the Keating Sports Center for a 7:00 p.m. match-up.