Chicago, Ill. – In their second home match of the 2024 season and their second Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) match, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's volleyball team welcomed the Aurora University Spartans to the Keating Sports Center. After going down two set, the Hawks had a thrilling set three after going on a late 5-0 run to push the set into extra points. The Hawks (8-6, 1-1) were able to pick up the third set victory, pushing the match into four sets, but the Hawks offensive momentum wouldn't hold as they fell in set four, dropping the match 3-1 to the Spartans ( 7-8, 2-0).  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Set one saw the Hawks stay close to the Spartans early, but a 5-1 run by the visitors separated the two sides. With the Spartans leading, the Hawks would pull a late 5-1 run to come within 3-points at 18-15. During the run, points came from a Taryn Jones kill, two London Francis/Karla Leonte blocks, a Spartan attack error, and a Grace Reckamp block. Set one ended in a 7-1 run by the Spartans to take the set 25-16. 

• Set three started off in favor of the Hawks, taking a 3-1 lead out the game with kills by Leonte, Ana Jones, and Victoria Aspurez, all from Sasami Cavan assists. The set would then go back and forth with the Hawks jumping back ahead after a 4-1 run with kills from two kills from Reckamp and one from Karla Trautmann Mendez, all off Cavan assists, as well as a Spartan error. The Spartans would then go on a run of their own to take the lead. The visiting team took control of the set offensively from that point, taking set two 25-15.  

• Set three saw a thriller between the two sides. After the Hawks tied the set at 3-3, they would continue to pick up points, going on a 6-1 run. During the run, A. Jones picked up a kill from a Cavan assists and Francis recorded a kill from a Reckamp assists while two separate blocks were recorded by Aspurez and A. Jones. The set would go on to be tied at 11-11 before the contest became a back-and-forth battle. For the remainder of the set, 11 ties would be recorded. Following a tie at 18-18, the Spartans would jump ahead 23-19 with a 5-1 run. Although it seemed the set was about to go in favor of the Spartans, the Hawks had other plans as they went on a 5-0 run to lead 24-23. During the run, Francis recorded a kill from Reckamp, Leonte had a kill, Reckamp had a kill from Cavan, Reckamp/Leonte had a block, and Anna Elena Sofia Sebastio assisted a Reckamp kill. The two sides once again went back-and-forth before the Hawks took three straight points to take the set victory 31-29. The final three points came from a Francis kill off a Reckamp assist, a Aspurez kill from a Reckamp assist that led to a Spartan block error, and an Erin Nothdorf kill from a Reckamp assist.  

• Set four saw the Spartans lead the whole way as the Hawks were unable to get an offensive streak going. In the end, the Spartans took set four 25-17 to win the match 3-1.  

SCARLET HAWK STANDOUTS 

• Grace Reckamp – 11 kills, 15 assists, 1 block solo, 2 block assists, 5 digs 

• London Francis – 6 kills, 4 block assists 

• Ana Jones – 6 kills, 2 block assists, 

• Anna Elena Sofia Sebastio – 5 assists, 24 digs 

• Victoria Aspurez – 4 kills, 4 block assists 

• Karla Leonte – 4 kills, 5 block assists 

SPARTANS STANDOUTS 

• Kate Poellmann – 15 kills, 1 block solo, 1 block assist, 2 digs 

• Kristen Erickson – 3 assists, 15 digs 

• Riley Moreno – 7 kills, 2 service aces, 5 block assists, 2 digs 

• Hannah Joseph – 40 assists, 3 block assists, 8 digs 

• Kate Dillon – 12 kills, 3 block assists, 3 digs 

• Carolyn Lippe – 1 service ace, 11 digs 

UP NEXT 

On Saturday, September 28th, the Hawks are set to host their first of three-home tri-matches of the season. The Hawks will welcome the Lake Forest College Foresters and the North Central College Cardinals to the Keating Sports Center for two non-conference matches. The Hawks will take on the Foresters at 12:00 PM, before the Foresters and Cardinals play at 2:30 PM. The Hawks and Cardinals will close out the night with a 5:00 PM match.