Chicago, Ill. - On a day when the Illinois Tech women's volleyball team earned a split in their first home tri-match of the 2024 season, it was an individual career milestone that took center stage Saturday afternoon at the Keating Center. Senior Grace Reckamp recorded her 1000th career collegiate assist during the Scarlet Hawks opening match 3-0 victory against Lake Forest College. The Hawks would drop the nightcap to North Central College, 3-0. Illinois Tech is now 9-7 overall, while the Cardinals improved to 10-5 overall. Lake Forest, who also lost to North Central in the middle match, dropped to 2-11 overall.

But the story of the day was Reckamp's career assists milestone. Entering the day needing only six assists to achieve the 1000 mark, Reckamp finished the opening set against Lake Forest with 5 assists. Early in set two, an assist by Reckamp on an Erin Nothdorf kill gave the Scarlet Hawks a 4-1 lead, and gave Reckamp her 1000 assists milestone. The achievement was recognized and announced to the crowd between sets two and three. Reckamp wound up finishing the day with 46 assists over the two matches.

"I'm incredibly proud of Grace and where she's come as a volleyball player and as a person," said Head Coach Mark Johnston. "She's played many different roles for us, this year included.  She's usually been the other half of a 6-2 offense so this is a really great accomplishment of eclipsing 1000 assists. This stat definitely validates her amazing career here at Illinois Tech, and she's not quite done yet!"

Match One: Illinois Tech 3 - Lake Forest 0

• Set One - Illinois Tech 25 - Lake Forest 18: After trading point early for a 6-6 tie, the Foresters used an 11-4 advantage over the next 15 points to build a 17-10 lead. An attack error by Lake Forest opened the door for the Scarlet Hawks to mount their comeback, and with Reckamp serving, the Hawks went on an 11-0 run to take a 22-17 lead en route to the set one victory. London Francis led the Hawks with 5 kills; Karla Trautmann Mendez added 4 kills.
• Set Two - Illinois Tech 25 - Lake Forest 18: After an early 1-1 tie, there was no suspense for the remainder of set two, as the Scarlet Hawks used a 6-0 run that featured three service aces by Trautmann Mendez to open up a 7-1 lead the Hawks never relinquished. The Foresters would cut their deficit to 5 points at 15-10, but the Hawks used a 10-8 advantage over the final 18 points to take set two. Trautmann Mendez added 3 more kills, with Francis and Nothdorf adding kills each.
• Set Three - Illinois Tech 25 - Lake Forest 17: The Scarlet Hawks jumped out to an early 5-0 lead.The Foresters would battle back, however, using an 8-4 run to pull within one point at 9-8. With Illinois Tech leading 15-13 midway through the final set, the Hawks used a 10-4 run to close out the set and earn the match victory. Francis paced the Hawks with 6 kills in the set.

Match Two: North Central 3 - Illinois Tech 0

• Set One - North Central 25 - Illinois Tech 15: The Scarlet Hawks had a promising start to the match, jumping out to a 6-3 lead early in the opening set. The Cardinals responded to the early deficit with a 5-0 run to take an 8-6 lead. The Hawks would close to one point at 8-7, but North Central used a 17-8 advantage over the final points of the set to build a 1-0 lead. Trautmann Mendez led the Hawks with 4 kills.
• Set Two - North Central 25 - Illinois Tech 21: The Scarlet Hawks found themselves trailing 7-1 early and were chasing the Cardinals throughout the first half of set two. Illinois Tech would eventually draw even with North Central at 14-14, and grabbed a brief lead late at 21-20. The Cardinals however used a 5-0 run to take the middle set for a 2-0 lead. The set featured seven ties and four lead changes. Trautmann Mendez led the Hawks with 4 more kills, while Francis and Ana Jones added 3 kills each.
• Set Three - North Central 25 - Illinois Tech 20: In a reversal of set two, it was the Scarlet Hawks who held advantage throughout the first half of set three, holding the lead midway through the set at 16-15. A 5-2 response from North Central gave them a 20-18 lead. The Hawks would pull within one point at 21-20, but the Cardinals closed out the set and the match with a 4-0 run. Trautmann Mendez added 5 more kills, with Francis and Ana Jones adding 3 kills each.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts (Combined Tri-Match Performance)

• Grace Reckamp with 46 assists, including her 1000th career assist. She carried a 7.67 assists per set average while adding 12 digs
• Karla Trautmann Mendez led the Hawks with 23 kills and 3.83 kills per set. She also added 5 service aces and 13 digs
• London Francis with 20 kills, a 3.33 kills per set average, and a .357 attack percentage
• Ana Jones with 8 kills and 11 digs in 4 sets played
• Victoria Aspurez led the Hawks with 8 total blocks
• Anna Elana Sofia Sebastio led with 26 digs

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks hit the road for the next two matches, starting on Thursday, October 3rd, when they travel to Madison, Wisconsin to take on last year's Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) champion, Edgewood, in a 7pm match.