River Forest, Ill. - On the road for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) on Tuesday, October 17, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's volleyball team took on the Dominican University Stars. The Hawks (4-16, 3-6) and Stars (9-11, 4-5) went the distance, going all five sets to determine a winner. After dropping the first set to the Stars, the Hawks took sets two and three to take the lead. The Stars then took set four to tie the match at 2-2. After trailing early at the beginning of set five, the Hawks pulled their way back to take the set and win the match 3-2. 

How It Happened

Set One - Stars 25, Hawks 21

• Set one began with the Hawks quickly going back-and-forth in sharing the lead and being tied. After a brief tie at 3-3, the Stars ended up ahead and held the lead for the remainder of the set. The Hawks would fight to stay within reach, coming with two at 17-15 after a kill by London Francis. After the Hawks kills, the Stars jumped back ahead, eventually taking set one 25-21. 

Set Two - Hawks 25, Stars 23

• Set two started with the Hawks holding the lead early before the Stars tied the set and eventually took the lead after going on a 5-0 run to lead 10-8. From there, the two sides battled back-and-forth, including four ties, before the Stars took a 20-16 lead. The Hawks were able to turn momentum in their favor just in time, going on a 9-3 run to secure a set two 25-23 victory. 

Set Three - Hawks 25, Stars 19

• In set three, the Hawks started off with the lead, including a 5-0 run with two kills a piece from Briar Moore and Emily Graham. After the Hawks run, the Stars fought their way back to tie the set at 14-14. To end the set, the Hawks went on a 8-1 run. During the run, Moore recorded one kill while Karla Trautmann Mendez picked up 3. The Hawks took set three 25-19. 

Set Four - Stars 25, Hawks 18

• A 7-3 run in favor of the Stars began set three. The Stars would lead for the rest of the set, eventually taking set four 25-18.

Set Five - Hawks 15, Stars 12

• For set five, the Stars started out on a 7-0 run to take an early lead over the Hawks. The Hawks then turned momentum in their favor with an 8-1 run to tie the set up at 8-8. The Hawks and Stars then went back-and-forth, with both teams fighting to get ahead of the other. By the end of the set, the Hawks were able to secure three straight points, with the final coming off a Francis kill, to take the final set 15-12, giving the Hawks the match victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Briar Moore - 18 kills, 2 aces, 1 block, 17 digs
• London Francis - 17 kills, .467 attack percentage
• Victoria Aspurez - 5 aces
• Karla Trautmann Mendez - 5 blocks, 11 kills
• Michelle Navarro - 35 assists, 13 digs
• Kelsey Starnes - 24 digs

Stars Standouts

• Cassidy Spies - 19 kills, 4 aces, 19 digs

• Ellery Shea - 3 blocks, 9 kills

• Olivia Mendell - 41 assists, 2 aces

• Charlotte Hain - 21 digs, 2 aces

Inside the Box Score

• The Hawks led in kills 58-53 over the Stars

• In aces, the Hawks edged the Stars 11-10

• The Stars tallied one more block than the Hawks, 6-5

• For assists, the Hawks had 48 versus the Stars 43

• Illinois Tech picked up one more dig than Dominican, leading 86-85

Up Next

The Hawks turn their focus to non-conference action now as they travel to Elmhurst, Ill. on Friday, October 20, to take on the Elmhurst University Bluejays. Serve first for the road match is scheduled for 7:00 PM.