Chicago, Ill. -  With the remainder of their 2024 season consisting of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) match-up's, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's volleyball team welcomed the Dominican University Stars to the Keating Sports Center. The Wednesday night match saw the Hawks (6-11, 2-2) fight, but ultimately fall to the conference undefeated Stars (10-6, 5-0) 3-0. 

How It Happened

Set One - Stars 25, Hawks 22

• Grant Couper got the match going with a kill from a Elijah Johnson assist for the first point of the contest. The two sides then recorded four ties to make the contest 4-4. The Hawks then went ahead with back-to-back kills from Jelani Kimoto and Couper, both off Johnson assists. After a few points for both sides, the set would be tied once again, this time at 7-7. From there, four more ties followed to lead to an 11-11 tie. The Stars then went on top with back-to-back kills. For the remainder of the set, the Stars led the Hawks. After a timeout, the Hawks went on a 4-2 run to come within two of the Stars. During the run, Riley Laite recorded a kill from a Johnson assist, and a service ace while Couper recorded a block and a kill from an Alec Donald assist to make the score 18-16 in favor of the Stars. Although the Hawks put up a tough fight at the end of the set, coming back within two after a 5-1 run to make the score 24-22, the Stars would get the final point, securing set one 25-22. 

Set Two - Stars 25, Hawks 15

• A 4-1 start for the Stars put the visitors ahead early. The Hawks then found a burst of offensive energy, tying the set at 6-6 after a Kimoto kill off a Johnson assist and a Johnson service ace. The 6-6 tie would mark the only tie of the set as the Stars led the rest of the way. A 3-0 run, the Hawks longest run of the set, came towards the end when Couper recorded a kill from an Eli Sherman assist, Sherman recorded a service ace, and David Singer recorded a kill from a Donald assist. The Stars ended the set with a 4-0 run to take set two 25-15. 

Set Three - Stars 25, Hawks 21

• The Hawks began set three with the early lead, going up 4-1 on the Stars. Jackson Van Engen started the action off with a kill from a Johnson assist. Sherman then recorded a service ace before the Hawks got two points from Stars attacking errors. The Stars would then go on to tie the game at 4-4. After a brief tie at 5-5, the Hawks led the Stars 7-6 after two more Star errors. The set was then tied again, this time at 7-7 before the Stars went ahead for the remainder of the set. After a Star service error followed by a Kimoto and Aaron Hanny block, the Hawks would come within one point of the Stars as they led 17-16. In the end, the Hawks were unable to fully catch the Stars as the visitors won set three 25-21, taking the match victory. 

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Grant Couper - 9 kills, 1 service ace, 1 block

• Jackson Van Engen - 5 kills, 1 block

• Jelani Kimoto - 4 kills

• Eli Sherman - 2 service aces, 3 assists

• Riley Laite - 1 service ace, 4 digs

• Aaron Hanny - 2 blocks

• Elijah Johnson - 23 assists

• Alec Donald - 2 assists, 4 digs

• Paul Henderson - 5 digs

Stars Standouts

• Casey Goss - 12 kills, 2 service aces

• Jarod Hesse - 11 kills, 2 blocks, 1 assist

• Aaron Mars - 8 kills, 8 digs

• Jason Kougan - 2 service aces, 2 blocks, 1 assist

• Michael Greco - 3 blocks

• Owen Morrow - 31 assists, 7 digs

Inside the Box Score

• The Stars led 37-28 in kills

• The Hawks edged the Stars in total attack 82-80

• In assists, the Stars had 33 while the Hawks had 28

• For service aces, the Hawks led 5-3

• Total assists saw the Stars lead 8-6

• The Stars led 30-24 in digs

Up Next

The Hawks hit the road on Saturday, March 9, to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) raiders. The NACC match-up will begin at 1:00 PM.