River Forest, Ill. - With four games remaining on their 2024 regular season schedule, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's volleyball team took a trip over to River Forest to take on the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action. Coming out hot, the Hawks (9-13, 5-4) swept the Cougars (8-13, 3-6) 3-0 to win the match. This marks back-to-back sweeps for the Hawks as the conclusion of the regular season is quickly approaching with hopes of making it to postseason play.
Currently, the Hawks sit in 7th place in the NACC standings. The top eight teams make it into the NACC Tournament.
How It Happened
Set One - Hawks 25, CUC 9
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Coming out strong, the Hawks began the match with a 8-1 run in set one. With Jelani Kimoto serving to start the set, the Hawks picked up points from a Cougar attack error, a Jackson Van Engen kill off a Eli Sherman assist, a Kimoto service ace, and a Grant Couper kill off a Sherman assist. The Cougars would then get their lone point off a block before the Hawks continued their run with four more points. During the second part of their 8-1 run, the Hawks picked up points from a Van Engen kill off a Sherman assist, two Cougar errors, and a Paul Henderson service ace. The Cougars would pick up a few points, but momentum continued to swing in favor of the Hawks who went on a 6-0 run to take a 16-5 lead. With the run starting off a Cougar error, Sherman would begin serving for the Hawks. The next five points came from a Cougar attack error, a Sherman service ace, a Riley Laite kill off a Sherman assist, another Sherman service ace, and another kill from Laite off a Sherman assist. For the remainder of the set, the Hawks comfortably led the Cougars. Closing out the set with a 7-1 run, the Hawks took set one by a final score of 25-9.
Set Two - Hawks 25, CUC 20
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A closer contest at the start of set two, the Hawks and Cougars were tied early at 3-3. Following the 3-3 tie, the Hawks picked up back-to-back points to create a separation. From this point on, the Hawks would lead the Cougars the rest of the way, but the Cougars would continue to fight to keep the set close. A kill by Laite gave the Hawks a 6-point lead at 14-8, their largest lead of the set. The Cougars would then go on a run of their own to come within one point on the Hawks at 17-16. With the Cougars knocking on the door, the Hawks kept their composure to stay ahead. At the end of the set, the Hawks were able to close out action with a 6-2 run. During the run, Van Engen recorded a kill, Couper recorded a kill, Laite recorded two kills, and Sherman picked up three assists. The Hawks took set two 25-20.
Set Three - Hawks 25, CUC 22
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Set three seemed to be going in favor of the Cougars early on who took an 11-4 lead to begin the set. After the Cougars went up, the Hawks were able to turn momentum around into their favor with a 10-3 run. During this run, the Hawks picked up points off a Cougar error, a Couper and Colten Farrell block, and Farrell kill off a Sherman assist, a Van Engen kill off a Sherman assist, a Sherman kill off a Van Engen assist, a Couper kill off a Alec Donald assist, and four Cougar attacking errors which led to a 14-14 tie between the two sides. Five more ties would follow in the set before the Hawks jumped ahead with a 7-3 run to earn the set victory. Points from this run came from two Cougar attacking errors, a Couper kill off a Sherman assist, an Aaron Hanny kill off a Sherman assist, a Riley Laite service ace, a Cougar service error, and one last Couper kill off a Sherman assist to give the Hawks the 25-22 set three victory.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Cougars Standouts
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Jackson Stella - 8 kills
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David Vales - 7 kills, 1 assist, 7 digs
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Marcin Hoffman - 7 kills
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Elijah Mosher - 3 blocks, 23 assists, 13 digs
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Sean Beckman - 3 blocks
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Ayaaz Arif - 2 blocks
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Dionte Garcia - 2 assists, 11 digs
Inside the Box Score
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The Hawks led in kills 39-27
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All five of the matches aces were recorded by the Hawks
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The Cougars edged the Hawks in blocks 7-6
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35 assists were recorded by the Hawks while the Cougars had 27
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In digs the Hawks led 49-43
Up Next
The Hawks will play in one final road game for the 2024 regular season when they travel to Mequon, Wis. to take on the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons in NACC action on Saturday, March 30. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
