Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech women's volleyball took to home court for the first time in the 2023 season, and opened conference play with a 3-0 sweep of MSOE Friday night at the Keating Center. The Scarlet Hawks start Northern Collegiate Athletic Association (NACC) play 1-0, and improve their overall record to 2-6. The Raiders open NACC play 0-1 and drop their record to 3-6.

"Preseason is over and that was a great way to start 2023 NACC play" said Head Coach Mark Johnston. "Beating our academic conference rival on our home court was great. I thought we played better as the match carried on and I'm really happy with our offensive production" said Johnston.

Indeed, the Scarlet Hawks margin of victory increased throughout each set. And the offensive production was epitomized by a .277 attack percentage for the entire match. 

"As a team, we hit .277 and no one hit negative" said Johnston. "Briar Moore had yet another solid night collecting 11 kills and 9 digs. And congrats to Karla Mendez Trautmann on her very first collegiate volleyball match, as she hit .429 with a stuff block" said Johnston.

How It Happened

• Set 1 - Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 22
  • Set one presented the most competitive set of the match, as neither team was able to establish a significant lead throughout most of the match. The Scarlet Hawks built a three point lead at 12-9, but the Raiders answered back and tied the set at 12-12. The teams traded points through a 17-17 tie before the Scarlet Hawks went on a mini run of three straight points to take a 20-17 lead. Illinois Tech moved to set point at 24-19, the largest lead of the match. MSOE rallied for three straight points to move within two at 24-22, but Emily Graham finished the set with a kill to give the Hawks a 1-0 match lead. Graham led the Hawks in kills in set one with five.
• Set 2 - Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 19
  • After opening with a modest lead of 3-0, the Scarlet Hawks and the Raiders played even volleyball through the mid point of the match, with Illinois Tech trailing 16-15. Stephanie Nguyen helped serve the Hawks to eight straight points to take a 23-16 lead. The Raiders could get no closer than four points the rest of the way, as the Scarlet Hawks finished out the match with a Grace Reckamp kill for the set two victory. Moore paced the Hawks in the second set with three kills.
• Set 3 - Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 14
  • The Scarlet Hawks fell behind by five points in the early going, trailing 9-4 before they were able to make a run. This time it was Kelsey Starnes turn to pilot the Hawks on the serve, leading to a ten point run to take the lead for good at 14-9. MSOE would get no closer than three points for the remainder of set three, as the Scarlet Hawks won seven of the final eight points en route to the third set and match victory. Moore added five more kills during the set.

Scarelt Hawks Standouts

• Moore led in team kills with 11, on the strength of a .476 attack percentage. Moore also added 9 digs
• Graham finished with 8 kills and an .300 attack percentage
• Victoria Vann added 7 kills with a .294 attack rate
• Victoria Aspurez was credited with 3 blocks for the match
• Sasami Cavan totaled 27 assists
• Starnes had 2 service aces to go along with 8 digs

Raiders Watch

• Emma Schattschneider paced the Raiders with 7 kills
• Ana Knutson tallied 6 kills

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks head back on the road this weekend, as they compete in the Marilyn Scribner Invitational at Wheaton College this Friday and Saturday. They open the tournament with a match against Manchester Friday night at 5:00 PM.