Rock Island, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team traveled to Rock Island, Illinois for a pair of non-conference matches Saturday afternoon. When the day was done, the Scarlet Hawks earned a split in the tri-match, sweeping Fontbonne 3-0 in the opening match before falling to host Augustana 3-1 in the nightcap. The Scarlet Hawks moved to 3-7 on the season. Fontbonne fell to 3-9, while Augustana improved to 11-1.

Illinois Tech 3 - Fontbonne 0 (25-18, 25-13, 25-20)

• Set 1: The Scarlet Hawks never trailed in the opening set, jumping out to a 3-0 lead and maintaining a comfortable lead throughout the set before finishing with a seven-point victory. Riley Laite paced the Hawks with 5 kills.
• Set 2: Illinois Tech also led set two wire-to-wire, opening with a 3-0 lead, using a 5-0 run to build an 8-2 lead, before finishing out the set with a 12-point margin of victory. Laite added 4 more kills to lead the Hawks.
• Set 3: Fontbonne flipped the script on the Scarlet Hawks in the third set, as the Griffins jumped out to a 3-0 lead, held the Hawks at bay at 5-4 before a 4-0 run by Illinois Tech allowed the Hawks to take the lead. The Griffins would stay close, and close within one point at 19-18. But the Scarlet Hawks closed out the set with a 6-2 run to take the match. Laite once again paced the Hawks in kills in the set with 5.

Augustana 3 - Illinois Tech 1 (25-21, 18-25, 25-21, 25-17)

• Set 1: The opening set saw six tie scores and two lead changes. The Scarlet Hawks held a 12-10 lead midway through the set, but a 6-1 run by the Vikings put the hosts up 16-13. The Hawks would pull within one point at 18-17, but Augustana closed out with a 7-4 run to win the opening set. David Singer led the Hawks with 4 kills.
• Set 2: The Scarlet Hawks never trailed in set two, opening with a 6-2 run, withstanding an 8-5 run by the Vikings to hold an 11-10 lead, and then closing out the set with a 7-3 run to win set two and tie the match at 1-1. 4 kills for Grant Couper.
• Set 3: After a 1-1 tie, the Vikings took control of the match, eventually building a seven-point lead at 19-12. The Scarlet Hawks made a furious late push, using a 9-4 run to pull within two points at 23-21. But the Vikings took the final two points for the set three victory. 3 kills each for Bryan Evans and Jackson Van Engen.
• Set 4: There were five tie scores early in the fourth set, with the teams deadlocked for the final time at 6-6. But the Vikings eventually pulled away from the Hawks, moving out to an eight-point lead at 24-16 before closing out the match with a 25-17 set four victory. 2 kills each for Van Engen and Paul Henderson.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts(both matches combined)

• Riley Laite led the Hawks with 15 kills.
• Grant Couper added 14 kills and led with a 2.33 kills per set average. He also collected 17 digs.
• Jackson Van Engen with 12 kills and led with a .303 attack percentage, to go along with 6 blocks and 2 service aces.
• Paul Henderson with 12 kills, 5 blocks and led with 20 digs.
• Elijah Johnson with 61 assists, 18 digs, and 4 blocks.
• Jelani Kimoto with 5 blocks.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks return to the Keating Center on Tuesday night, when they host Saint Xavier at 7:00 PM in a non-conference match.