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Men's Volleyball Defeats St. Norbert - Improves to 5-2 In Conference Play

Photo by Norman Cohen.
Photo by Norman Cohen.

Game Leaders

Illinois Tech
K: Jackson Van Engen - 14
B: Jackson Van Engen - 8
D: Paul Henderson - 12
SA: Jackson Van Engen - 2
St. Norbert
K: Nelson, Kade - 15
B: 4 Players (#4, #18, #6, #8) - 1
D: Krueger, Jake - 12
SA: 4 Players (#10, #18, #6, #8) - 1

Team Stats

Illinois Tech
St. Norbert

Hitting %

0.281
0.189

Blocks

11
3

Digs

51
59

Aces

4
4
full stats
Posted: Mar 24, 2023

By Eric Willuweit

De Pere, Wis. - Illinois Tech men's volleyball found themselves in a tightly contested match with host St. Norbert College Friday night, but in the end it was the Scarlet Hawks who came out on top 3-1 in the conference matchup. With the win, the Scarlet Hawks improved to 5-2 in NACC play, and moved into fifth place in the conference standings. The Hawks are now 10-12 overall. The Green Knights fell to 3-4 in conference and 7-15 overall.

The Scarlet Hawks defense played a key role in the victory, as the team combined for 22 blocks to just 4 for St. Norbert. 

"We're thankful we were ready for this match tonight" said Head Coach Mike Oswald. "St. Norbert did a great job with service pressure and siding out. There was a lot of back and forth but we were able to rely on a lot of blocking to put us in good situations and score points. That, solid effort from our back row and our spirit helped us pull through" said Oswald.

How It Happened

Illinois Tech 3 - St. Norbert 1

  • Set 1 - St. Norbert held the lead for first half of the opening set, jumping out to several three-point leads, and still holding the advantage at 14-13. The Scarlet Hawks used a 7-3 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Green Knights secured the next two points to move within one at 20-19. But Illinois Tech finished out the set with a 5-1 run to take set one, 25-20.
  • Set 2 - Set two was the most competitive set of the match, featuring 11 tie scores and 7 lead changes. The last of the tie scores had the teams deadlocked late at 20-20. A couple kills by Jackson Van Engen, another by Paul Henderson, and a couple St. Norbert errors gave the Scarlet Hawks a 5-2 run to close out the match for the 25-22 set two victory.
  • Set 3 - Illinois Tech held an early 1-0 lead in set three, but that would be as good as it would get for the Scarlet Hawks in the set. After St. Norbert scored the next two points to take a 2-1 lead, the Hawks were able to draw even at 2-2, but that would be the last time they would draw even. The Green Knights used a 4-0 run to build a 6-2 lead, and would hold a five-point lead on nine occasions throughout the set, before closing out with a six-point advantage for the 25-19 set victory.
  • Set 4 - The final set was nearly as competitive as the second set, with the teams achieving eight tie scores and three lead changes. As in the second set, the teams again found themselves tied late at 20-20. However, the Scarlet Hawks were able to use a 4-0 run to take a 24-20 lead, eventually winning set four 25-22.

Scarlet Hawks Standouts

  • Van Engen paced the Scarlet Hawks with 14 kills and a .500 attack rate. He also led the team with 8 block assists and 2 service aces.
  • Grant Couper added 13 kills with a .344 attack rate, to go along with a perfect 31/31 in receptions.
  • Henderson had 10 kills and 5 block assists.
  • Eli Sherman finished with 38 assists.

Up Next

The Scarlet Hawks will be back on home court on Wednesday, March 29th, when they host Dominican University at 7:00 PM CT in a NACC matchup at the Keating Sports Center.