MILWAUKEE, Wis. – The Illinois Tech women's volleyball team trekked north to the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday to oppose Alverno College and the host Raiders. Tech defeated Alverno 3-2 before falling to MSOE 3-0.

Scores

• Tech 3, Alverno 2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-19, 24-26, 16-14)
• MSOE 3, Tech 0 (25-13, 25-18, 25-13)

How it Happened – Alverno Match

• Set one was back-and-forth throughout. It looked as if Tech took control with two Sara Hassell aces to make the score 24-20, but the Inferno answered for three straight points. However, Tech answered with a Lydia Goebel kill to win the set.
• Alverno jumped out ahead in set two, leading 10-3 before the Scarlet Hawks stormed back to take an 18-17 lead. Eventually, Tech would run out of gas in the set, as Alverno outscored the Hawks 8-2 the rest of the way.
• The third set was a strong one for Tech. The Scarlet Hawks never trailed and led by as many as seven (13-6) en route to a 25-19 set victory.
• Things looked great for the Scarlet Hawks to close out the match in four sets, as Tech led 18-12 in set four. The Inferno would rally back, taking a 5-0 run to pull within one and eventually tying the score at 21. Hassell gave Tech a 24-23 lead with a kill, but Alverno scored three straight points to force a fifth set.
• The Scarlet Hawks began the fifth set on a 5-0 run, but Alverno worked back to tie things at 7-7. Despite many attempts by Alverno to relinquish control, Tech never trailed in the set and went on to win 16-14.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – Alverno Match

• Taylor Burton was ultra-impressive, tallying 11 kills, a .375 hitting percentage, and five block assists.
• Hassell led the team with 14 kills and three aces while also adding eight digs and five block assists.
• The two setters, Natalie Freund (25 assists) and Courtney Darling (17 assists, 10 digs), provided strong contributions.
• Courtney Curcio led all players with 23 digs.
• Alyssa Miner had a strong match of six kills and four total blocks (one solo, three assisted).

Stats to Know – Alverno Match

• Tech won despite losing the kills (59-46) and hit percentage (.136-.116) counts.
• The Scarlet Hawks outdug Alverno 71-69.
• Tech tallied an impressive 17 total blocks. Alverno had nine.

How it Happened – MSOE Match

• The Raiders took advantage of a scuffling Tech offense in set one. The Scarlet Hawks hit just -.053%, allowing MSOE to win 25-13.
• Tech had 12 total kills and kept things close early on in set two, but MSOE still proved to be too much, winning 25-19.
• In set three, MSOE found another gear, leading 10-3 early on and using a .435 hitting percentage in the set to close out the match.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – MSOE Match

• Hassell led the team with eight kills.
• Goebel had four kills, three aces, and 11 digs.
• Freund tallied 18 assists.
• Curcio led the Scarlet Hawks with 14 digs.

Stats to Know – MSOE Match

• MSOE hit an impressive .258% compared to Tech's -.037%.
• Digs were nearly even, with Tech outdoing MSOE 50-49.
• Tech had six aces compared to MSOE's four.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech will open the home schedule on Tuesday night as Concordia-Chicago visits the Keating Sports Center. The 7:00 p.m. match will have live audio, video, and stats. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.