by Eric Willuweit
Chicago, Ill. – In a late-season fight to qualify for the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference post-season tournament, the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team was faced with the daunting task of having to beat first-place and unbeaten conference foe Concordia Wisconsin Friday night at the Keating Sports Center. The Scarlet Hawks rose to the challenge, knocking off the Falcons 3-1 to send them to their first conference defeat. More importantly, the Scarlet Hawks stayed alive for a post-season berth, improving their conference record to 6-5, and to 14-8 overall. The Falcons fell to 10-1 in NACC play, and 16-7 overall.
With the win, the Scarlet Hawks retained seventh place in the conference standings, and will face the two teams directly in front of them in the standings, Lakeland University and Benedictine University, in their final two conference games. The top six teams qualify for a conference tournament post-season berth.
How It Happened
Illinois Tech 3 – Concordia Wisconsin 1
- After even play in the early stages of set one, the Scarlet Hawks raced out to an 18-12 at the midway point. The Falcons used an 8-2 run to tie the set at 20-20. The Hawks would rebound, however, using a 5-1 run to take set one 25-21.
- Illinois Tech started with an 8-2 run in set two, but Concordia Wisconsin countered, reaching even with the Hawks on six occasions, and holding a late lead of 23-22. The Scarlet Hawks would score the final three points of the set, claiming a 25-23 set two victory.
- The Scarlet Hawks found themselves trailing throughout most of set three, with the Falcons holding their biggest lead at 10-4, and holding a 17-14 lead midway through the set. The Hawks answered with a 5-0 run to take their first lead at 19-17, forcing the Falcons to call a timeout. After the timeout, the Hawks tacked on two more points for a 21-17 lead. The Falcons captured the next three points to close within 21-20. A service error by Concordia Wisconsin gave the Hawks their final lead of the set at 22-20, but the Falcons closed out with a 5-0 run to take set three 25-22.
- After a brief tie at 3-3, the Scarlet Hawks never trailed in the fourth and deciding set. The Hawks held leads of 10 points on three occasions, and leads of 11 points three times, including the final set four score of 25-14, providing the Scarlet Hawks with their 3-1 match victory.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
- Briar Moore finished with 12 kills, and 2 block assists.
- Zoe Michael added 9 kills and a solo block
- London Francis had 5 kills and 4 block assists.
- Victoria Vann pitched in 4 kills with 3 block assists.
- Allison Wilkins paced the team with 17 assists, while adding 11 digs and 3 service aces.
- Grace Reckamp added 13 assists, 3 service aces and 10 digs.
- Kelsey Starnes had 32 receptions without error, and 3 service aces.
- Stephanie Nguyen added 25 receptions, 11 digs and 3 service aces
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks get right back on the Keating Center court, as they host Lakeland University at 12:00 PM on Saturday in another conference showdown for a post-season bid.