Milwaukee, Wis. - After a successful start to the non-conference portion of their schedule, the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team was looking to carry that momentum into Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play Thursday night at MSOE. The Scarlet Hawks were able to do just that, sweeping the Raiders 3-0 to open conference play 1-0, and improve their season record to 7-5. The Raiders start NACC play 0-1 and fall to 4-9 overall.
Taryn Jones and
Victoria Aspurez each had seven kills, while
Karla Trautmann Mendez added six.
Grace Reckamp added 5 kills to go along with her 16 assists.
How It Happened
- Set One (Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 14): MSOE opened the first set earning the first point off of a service error for an early 1-0 lead. That would be the highlight for the Raiders in the opening set. The Scarlet Hawks followed with an 11-2 run to open up an 11-3 lead. The Raiders did rally for a 4-0 run to cut their deficit to 11-7, but a 6-1 counter by Illinois Tech boosted the Hawks lead to 17-8. The teams traded scores over the next several points before the Hawks closed out the set with a 2-0 run for the set one victory. Aspurez paced the Hawks with 3 kills.
- Set Two (Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 19): A 4-0 run by Illinois Tech to start set two established the tone for the middle set. The Raiders did close within two points early on, trailing 5-3. But the Scarlet Hawks would build comfortable leads throughout the majority of the set, until the Raiders pulled within three points late, 20-17. The Hawks were able to regroup and close out the set with a 5-2 run. Reckamp, Trautmann Mendez and London Francis each had 2 kills.
- Set Three (Illinois Tech 25 - MSOE 17): The Scarlet Hawks jumped out to a 10-5 lead in the final set, only to have their lead erased after the Raiders went on a 10-4 run to take a 15-14 lead. MSOE would only claim two more points along the way, as the Hawks finished out the match with an 11-2 run. Aspurez and Trautmann Mendez each had 3 kills.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Inside The Box Score
- Emma Schattschneider led the Raiders with 7 kills
- Ana Knutson and Ashley Murphy each had 5 kills for MSOE
- Illinois Tech finished with a .179 attack percentage; MSOE was a -.018 attack rate
- The Scarlet Hawks had 12 service aces but 11 service errors; MSOE had 4 service aces and 5 service errors
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks, after playing their first 12 matches on the road, will have their long-awaited home opener this Saturday night, when the Hawks will complete their home and home series with Andrews University at 7:30pm at the Keating Center in a non-conference break in the schedule.
