Galesburg, Ill. - After a humbling trip to Texas at the Southwestern University Invitational last weekend, the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team was looking to get back on track when they traveled south to Galesburg, Illinois to take on Knox College Wednesday night. The trip was a success, as the Scarlet Hawks swept the Prarie Fire 3-0 to move back over .500 for the season at 5-4. The Prarie Fire fell to 0-6.

Karla Trautmann Mendez led the way for the Scarlet Hawks with 12 kills on the evening, while Grace Reckamp, shifting to full-time setter duties for the evening due to a player injury, finished with 26 assists.

How It Happened

• Set 1: The Scarlet Hawks opened the match by jumping out to a 4-2 lead. The Prarie Fire responded with a 3-0 run to take the lead at 5-4. That would be the only lead for Knox in set one, as the Hawks used a 6-0 run to take at 10-5 lead, and they never looked back en route to a 25-17 set one victory.
• Set 2: An early 8-2 lead for the Scarlet Hawks was nearly erased, as the Prarie Fire ran off four straight points to pull Knox within two points at 8-6. But the Hawks would methodically pull away from the Prarie Fire, outscoring them 17-7 the rest of the way for the 25-13 set two victory.
• Set 3: The final set turned out to be the most competitive of the match. With the Scarlet Hawks holding a 13-9 lead midway through the set, the Prarie Fire blitzed the Hawks with an 8-0 run to take the lead 17-13. The Scarlet Hawks would regroup, however, using a 9-2 run to move back in front 22-19. The Hawks would score 3 of the final 5 points to win set three 25-21, and win the match 3-0.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Karla Trautmann Mendez paced the Hawks with 12 kills while adding 3 blocks
• Grace Reckamp recorded 26 assists and had 5 digs
• London Francis with 6 kills, for a .455 attack percentage
• Victoria Aspurez with 4 blocks while adding 4 kills
• Taryn Jones and Anna Jones each finished with 12 digs to pace the team, with Taryn Jones adding 3 service aces
• Anna Elena Sofia Sebastio had 11 digs to go with 2 service aces
• Karla Leonte with 4 kills and 3 blocks

Inside The Box Score

• Mayra Diaz with 5 kills and 3 blocks for the Prarie Fire
• Maria Clara Jabor John also had 5 kills while adding 2 blocks for Knox
• Sam Black paced Knox with 12 digs
• Illinois Tech finished with 8 services aces, while Knox did not have a service ace
• Knox edged the Hawks in team blocks, 9-8
• The Scarlet Hawks finished with a perfect reception percentage of 1.000 on 50 total receptions

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks have another weekend of tough competition ahead, as the will travel to the north side of Chicago on Saturday evening, September 14th, to compete in the North Park Tri-Match 1. The Hawks will face Adrian College at 4:30pm, followed by the host Vikings at 7:00pm.