KALAMAZOO, Mich. - The Illinois Tech women's volleyball team went east on Wednesday night to take on the Hornets of Kalamazoo College. After falling behind 2-0, Tech dominanted set three before taking the hosts to the edge in the fourth set, ultimately falling 3-1 to move to 1-8 on the season. Kalamazoo improved to 3-10.

Set Scores

• KC 3, Tech 1 (13-25, 19-25, 25-13, 23-25)

How it Happened

• A 4-0 lead to start the match was all the Hornets needed to gain momentum. Tech was unable to get anything scoring, as KZoo did not allow the Scarlet Hawks to score consecutive points in the set.
• The Hornets scored three unanswered to start the second set, but Illinois Tech would not go down as easy this time. The Scarlet Hawks fought back to take a 7-6 lead on an attack error, and after two Hornet points, a 4-0 run vaulted Tech ahead 11-8. After a Mia Phelps kill for Tech's 15 point, the Hornets went on a 4-0 rally to take the lead for good.
• The third set was dominated by the defense of the Scarlet Hawks, as Tech held the Hornets to a -.118 hitting percentage. The Scarlet Hawks started the set on a 7-1 run, highlighted by an assisted block featuring Justine Bracco and Alyssa Miner. Courtney Darling and Courtney Curcio also aided runs throught the set with consecutive aces. Taylor Burton iced the dominanted 25-13 set with a kill from the set of Allison Wilkins.
• The Scarlet Hawks were the first to jump ahead in the fourth set, building four-point leads of 7-3 and 9-5. With Tech up 10-8 later on, the Hornets went on a 5-0 run only to have the Hawks go on a 5-0 run as well. In the end, Kalamazoo scored five of the set's final seven points to stave off the Hawks.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Freshman Karen Marrufo-Zubaran led the team with 11 kills. She also added 14 digs.
• Curcio (18 digs, two aces) and Sinjin Acuna (16 digs) were strong in the back row.
• Burton, Bracco, and Phelps each had seven kills. Bracco also contributed two block assists.
• Alyssa Miner had four total blocks (two solo, two assisted).

Stats to Know

• The Scarlet Hawks outdid the Hornets 39-38 in kills, but were outhit .085% to .039%.
• Digs were near even, with the Hornets slightly leading 75-71. 
• Tech led in blocks 6-5.

Up Next

• The Scarlet Hawks will host Lake Forest College in a non-conference match on Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Keating Sports Center. Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.