Chicago, Ill. – Staying in the Chicagoland area, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks headed north of campus to compete in the NPU Tri-1 tri-match hosted by North Park University. With two non-conference matches taking place Saturday evening, the Hawks took on the Adrian College Bulldogs in their first match of the day before taking on the host, the undefeated, No. 15 ranked North Park University Vikings in the final match. The Hawks (6-5) come back to the Southside with a split on the day after defeating the Bulldogs (2-6) 3-0 before falling to the Vikings (8-0) 3-0.
MATCH ONE: ILLINOIS TECH 3 – ADRIAN COLLEGE 0
(25-22, 25-16, 25-15)
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For their first match of the evening, the Hawks took a 3-set sweep over the Bulldogs. Throughout the match, the Hawks led the Bulldogs in kills 42-24, service aces 11-2, assists 40-23, digs 50-37, and had a .260 attack percentage.
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Set one was the closest out of the three sets between the two sides as the set saw 9 ties. The final tie of the set came at 11-11 before the Hawks took the next three points to build a lead. The Bulldogs came within one at 18-17, but the Hawks would remain ahead after picking up points off a Bulldog attacking error and a Sasami Cavan service ace. Karla Trautmann Mendez recorded the set point for the Hawks with a kill from a Grace Reckamp assist.
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Set two saw the Hawks lead for the entirety of the match. Back-to-back kills from Reckamp and Trautmann Mendez got the action going. From there, the Hawks stayed ahead and gradually build their lead over the Bulldogs. Before the end of the set, the Hawks held a 10-point lead over the Bulldogs on two separate occasions. Trautmann Mendez once again recorded the final set point for the Hawks, this time from a Cavan assist.
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Set three began in favor of the Bulldogs who took an early 11-6 lead. The Hawks then got their offense going as they went on a 16-3 run to take a 10-point, 23-13 lead. During the run, 9 kills were recorded by the Hawks with Victoria Aspurez getting three, Cavan getting two, and Reckamp, Trautmann Mendez, Taryn Jones, and London Francis getting one. Ana Jones picked up the final set point/match point with a kill off a Reckamp assist.
MATCH TWO: NORTH PARK UNIVERSITY 3 – ILLINOIS TECH 0
(25-17, 26-24, 26-24)
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In the second match of the evening, the Hawks fell in a 3-set sweep to the Vikings. Entering the match, North Park University was recently ranked 15th in the nation for DIII women's volleyball according to the AVCA/TARAFLEX 2024 Division III WVB Poll released on Sep. 10th.
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The Hawks led the Vikings in blocks throughout the match with 7 total while the home team led in kills, aces, assists, digs, and attack percentage.
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Set one saw the Hawks lead the Vikings early 4-2 before the Vikings went on a 6-0 run to jump ahead. Three straight points brought the Hawks within one at 12-11 following three errors on the Vikings, but the Hawks were unable to get any offense going as the Vikings found their stride, going on another 6-0 run before taking set one.
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Set two saw the Hawks lead the Vikings late into the set when a 6-1 run put the Hawks ahead 22-17. During the run, the Hawks picked up three points off Vikings' errors, one point from a T. Jones kill, one point from a Reckamp kill, and a point from an Aspurez service ace. The home squad was able to turn things around in their favor though, going on 9-2 run to close out the set.
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Trailing for most of the set, the Hawks had a late comeback in set three after going on a 9-2 run to take a 20-17 lead. Five errors on the Vikings contributed to the run as well as two Trautmann Mendez kills, a T. Jones kill, and a Karla Leonte/ Francis block. Much like set two though, the Vikings would then have a comeback of their own, closing out the set with a 8-3 run to take the set/match victory.
SCARLET HAWK STANDOUTS (COMBINED)
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Karla Trautmann Mendez – 21 kills, 3.50 kills per set, 58 total attacks, .276 attack percentage, 2 service aces, 9 digs, 1 block assist
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Taryn Jones – 13 kills, 2.17 kills per set, 29 total attacks, .310 attack percentage, 1 block assist
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London Francis – 11 kills, 1.83 kills per set, 31 total attacks, .258 attack percentage,4 block assists
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Grace Reckamp – 28 assists, 4.67 assists per set, 6 service aces, 19 digs, 3.17 digs per set, 4 block assists
UP NEXT
The Hawks begin Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) action on Thursday, September 19th when they head up to Milwaukee, Wis. to take on the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders. First serve is scheduled for 7:00 PM.
