Buena Vista, Va. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team opened up their two-day road swing to Virginia Friday afternoon with a pair of matches at Southern Virginia University. The Scarlet Hawks dropped a pair of non-conference matches, losing the opener to Randolph-Macon 3-1, and dropping the nightcap to host Southern Virginia 3-0. The Scarlet Hawks fell to 1-3 in the early season. Randolph-Macon evened their record at 2-2, while Southern Virginia improved to 6-0.
The Scarlet Hawks battled in both matches, especially the Randolph-Macon match, in which all sets came down to the wire. But the Hawks had a tough time at the net, with Randolph-Macon registering a total of 22 blocks against the Scarlet Hawks, and Southern Virginia collecting 16 total blocks.
Randolph-Macon 3 - Illinois Tech 1 (25-23, 25-22, 23-25, 25-22)
- Set 1: Trailing 18-13, the Scarlet Hawks used a 9-2 run to take the lead 22-20. Randolph-Macon responded with a 5-1 run to comeback and win the opening set.
- Set 2: Illinois Tech held an 18-11 lead, but a late 9-1 run by the Yellow Jackets put them in front 20-19. A kill by Grant Couper would tie it up at 20-20, but the Yellow Jackets closed out set two with a 5-2 run.
- Set 3: The Scarlet Hawks had a four-point lead midway through the third set, but an 8-3 run by Randolph-Macon gave them a short-lived 17-16 lead. A 6-2 response by Illinois Tech gave the Hawks a 22-19 lead. The Yellow Jackets won the next three points to tie the set at 22-22, but the Hawks took 3 of the next 4 points for the set three win.
- Set 4: After holding an early 4-1 lead, the Scarlet Hawks saw the Yellow Jackets surge ahead with a 20-9 run for a 21-14 lead. The Hawks would battle back, pulling within two points at 23-21, but the Yellow Jackets won two of the last three points for the match win.
Southern Virginia 3 - Illinois Tech 0 (25-19, 25-18, 26-24)
- Set 1: In an opening set that saw 10 tie scores and 5 lead changes, the teams were even at 14-14 when the Knights went on a 6-2 run to open up a 4 point lead at 20-16. Southern Virginia then closed out the opening set with a 5-3 advantage.
- Set 2: An early 5-3 lead for Illinois Tech was quickly erased by the Knights, who used a 12-3 run to take a 15-8 lead. The Scarlet Hawks would close within three points at 20-17, but Southern Virginia finished with a 5-1 run to take set two.
- Set 3: Set three was the most competitive of the match, featuring 14 tie scores and 6 lead changes. The Knights held a late three point advantage at 23-20, but a 4-1 answer by the Scarlet Hawks forged a tie at 24-24. Southern Virginia won the final two points, however, for the match win.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts(both matches combined)
Inside The Box Score
- .Illinois Tech had one more service error than Randolph-Macon for the match, 18-17.
- The Scarlet Hawks had a better showing on the serve vs. Southern Virginia, with Hawks only having 9 service errors compared to 26 for the Knights.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will continue their Virginia road trip when they travel to Salem, Virginia to take on Roanoke College at 1:30 PM CT, followed by a scrimmage with Liberty University at 3:30 PM CT.
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