Madison, Wis. - Facing the defending Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) champion Edgewood Eagles on the road Thursday night, the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team got off to a great start by winning the opening set against the Eagles. The Scarlet Hawks battled throughout the match, but the Eagles proved to difficult to overcome, as they won the match 3-1. The Scarlet Hawks dropped to 1-2 in conference, and 9-8 overall. The Eagles improved to 3-0 in conference, and 10-8 overall.

London Francis and Karla Trautmann Mendez each paced the Scarlet Hawks with 11 kills each, but the Eagles' Cassidy Spies led all players with 17 kills, while Katie Borchert added 11.

How It Happened

• Set One - Illinois Tech 25 - Edgewood 18: Both teams traded points through the first 14 points of the opening set, tied at 7-7. The Scarlet Hawks then mounted a 6-2 run to open up a 13-9 lead. Edgewood responded with 5-2 run to close within one point at 15-14. A 4-0 counter by the Scarlet Hawks gave them some breathing room at 19-14. From there, the Hawks outscored the Eagles 6-4 to take set one. Victoria Aspurez paced the Hawks with 4 kills.
• Set Two - Edgewood 25 - Illinois Tech 12: Edgewood responded to the opening set loss with a strong set two. The Eagles jumped out to a 7-0 lead before the Scarlet Hawks could tally their first point. The remainder of the play in the second set continued to be owned by Edgewood. As the set progressed, the Scarlet Hawks could only pull within 7 points, trailing 18-11, before the Eagles used another 7-1 run to take set two. Trautmann Mendez led the Hawks with 4 kills.
• Set Three - Edgewood 25 - Illinois Tech 23: Illinois Tech put together a good answer to Edgewood's second set victory, building a 14-9 lead midway through the third set. But the Eagles followed with a 9-1 run to take an 18-15 lead. The Scarlet Hawks continued to battle, however, and pulled withing one point late at 24-23, but the Eagles won the next point to take set three. Francis led the team with 3 kills.
• Set Four - Edgewood 25 - Illinois Tech 23: The final set of the match had the most drama, with 16 tie scores and 6 lead changes recorded. Edgewood owned the biggest lead of the set at 3 points, leading 9-6 early. Illinois Tech would chip away, and would claim only their second lead of the set at 21-20. The Scarlet Hawks would close in on the set comeback, leading 23-22 in the late stages. Edgewood, however, had other plans, as the Eagles won the final 3 points to take set four and claim the match victory. Francis added 5 more kills for Illinois Tech.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• London Francis with 11 kills and a .233 attack percentage, to go along with 4 block assists
• Karla Trautmann Mendez with 11 kills, 5 blocks and 7 digs
• Victoria Aspurez had 7 kills, 5 blocks and 5 digs
• Ana Jones with 6 kills, 2 blocks and 13 digs
• Grace Reckamp with 29 assists, 3 service aces and 15 digs
• Ana Elena Sofia Sebastio with 23 digs
• Sydney Wilson with 10 digs
• Karla Leonte with 7 blocks

Inside The Box Score

• Cassidy Spies of Edgewood led all players with 17 kills while adding 10 digs
• Katie Borchert added 11 kills for the Eagles and had 3 blocks
• Edgewood finished with a .138 team attack percentage; Illinois Tech finished at .110
• The match featured 26 tie scores and 14 lead changes

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will continue their Wisconsin travels when they head to Mequon, Wisconsin on Saturday to take on Concordia Wisconsin at 12:00pm in another NACC matchup. The Falcons are 2-1 in conference and 7-9 overall.