Georgetown, Texas – Down in Sasami Cavan's and Madison Gowan's home state of Texas, the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks women's volleyball team took on two opponents in Day One of the Southwestern University Invitational hosted by Southwestern University. With back-to-back matches, the Hawks fought non-stop but were unable to walk away with match victories on Day One of the trip as they fell to the Pacific Lutheran University Lutes in match one 3-1 and then to the Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs 3-0.
MATCH ONE: PACIFIC LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY 3 – ILLINOIS TECH 1
(25-20, 11-25, 25-15, 25-17)
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Starting off the day, the Hawks immediately picked up three straight points with a kill by Karla Trautmann Mendez off a Sasami Cavan assist and two Lutes attacking errors. Following the Hawks quick start, the Lutes went on a 6-0 run to take the lead. Following a Grace Reckamp kill off a Cavan assist and a Luther attacking error, the set would see it last tie at 6-6 before the contest turned in favor of the Lutes. The Hawks would come within one at 11-10 in favor of the Lutes after Trautmann Mendez picked up another kill, this time off a Reckamp assist and a Lutes attacking error. The Lutes then took off with the lead, eventually taking set one 25-20.
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Starting off tied 1-1, the Hawks took off on a 12-3 run. Following a Lute attacking error, Victoria Aspurez began to serve for the Hawks. During the run, the Hawks picked up points from a Lute bad set, a London Francis kill, blocks from Ana Jones/Karla Leonte and Francis/Leonte, a kill from Trautmann Mendez off a Reckamp assist, a Lute service error, a Reckamp kill from Cavan, a block from Reckamp/Aspurez, a Lute attacking error, an Aspurez kill from Cavan, and lastly a Reckamp kill from Elena Sofia Sebastio. Before the end of the set, the Hawks went on a 7-0 run to take a 23-9 lead over the Lutes. Reckamp picked up the final point of the set with a kill off a Cavan assist to take set two for the Hawks 25-11.
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In the fourth set, the teams went back and forth in the beginning. After being tied at 4-4, the Lutes took one point before the Hawks took the next four to hold a 8-5 lead. During the 4-point run, Reckamp and Leonte picked up kills from Sydney Wilson and Cavan assists respectively. The Lutes would them come back to tie the set and take the lead. Set four would go on to be tied at 9-9 , 11-11, 12-12, 13-13, and 14-14 before the Lutes jumped ahead and led for the remaining points. In the end, the Lutes took set four 25-17, earning the match victory.
MATCH TWO: TEXAS LUTHERAN UNIVERSITY 3 – ILLINOIS TECH 0
(25-11, 25-18, 25-21)
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A kill by Reckamp from Cavan and an Elena Sofia Sebastio service ace began match two of the day for the Hawks The Hawks held onto their lead before the Bulldogs went on a 15-1 run. A Reckamp kill broke the Bulldogs run, but the Hawks were unable to go on a deep run of their own, ultimately dropping set one 25-11.
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In set two, the Bulldogs began the set with back-to-back points to take the early lead and never looked back. Starting at 14-9, the Hawks went on a 3-point run to come within 3 with a kill by Francis from Reckamp, a Bulldog attack error, and an Aspurez service ace. Unfortunately, the Hawks were unable to get any closer than three points as they went on to fall in set two 25-18.
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The third set saw a back-and-forth battle as 10 ties would take place. Starting at 9-9, the Hawks held the lead for a bit, once holding a 3-point lead at 20-17, but that would mark the turning point as the Bulldogs went on a 8-1 run to close out the set 25-21, taking the match victory.
SCARLET HAWK STANDOUTS (COMBINED)
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Grace Reckamp – 15 kills, 2.14 kills per set, 19 assists, 2.71 assists per set, 1 service ace, 16 digs, 2.29 digs per set, 1 block assist
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Karla Trautmann Mendez – 11 kills, 1.57 kills per set, 37 receptions, .973 reception percentage, 13 digs, 1.86 digs per set, 1 block assist
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Sasami Cavan – 31 assists, 4.43 assists per set, 1 service ace, 15 digs, 2.14 digs per set
UP NEXT
With one remaining game in Texas, the Hawks will be back in action tomorrow, September 7th when they take on the tournament host Southwestern University at 2:30 PM.
