Thousand Oaks, Calif. - After having their four-game winning streak snapped at Dominican on Tuesday, the Illinois Tech men's volleyball team traveled west to Southern California to compete in a weekend tournament at Cal Lutheran. The Scarlet Hawks got back into the win column Friday night, defeating another Chicago school, North Park University, 3-0. The Hawks improved to 9-10 overall. The Vikings dropped to 9-9 on the season.

The Scarlet Hawks received a balanced performance on the attack, with three players recording 8 kills each and two players with 5 kills a piece. 

How It Happened

• Set 1 - Illinois Tech 25 - North Park 23: Even at 16-16, the Scarlet Hawks would use an 8-4 run to gain set point at 24-20. The Vikings would rally to win the next three points to pull within one point at 24-23, but a North Park ball handling error on the next volley secured the set one victory for the Hawks. Aaron Hanny paced Illinois Tech with four kills.
• Set 2 - Illinois Tech 25 - North Park 19: With the teams tied at 11-11 midway through set two, Illinois Tech outscored the Vikings 9-4 to take a 20-15 advantage. A 7-2 answer from North Park pulled the Viking within 3 points at 22-19. But that would be as close as they would get, with the Scarlet Hawks winning the next three points to close out set two and take a 2-0 match lead. Raul Matos led the Hawks with 4 kills.
• Set 3 - Illinois Tech 25 - North Park 18: Set three would follow a similar start as set two, with the teams tied at 10-10 at the midpoint. Illinois Tech would once again go on a run to put some space between themselves and the Vikings, this time riding an 8-2 run to open up a six-point advantage at 18-12. A mini run by North Park cut their deficit to 18-15, but the Hawks would counter with a 7-3 push to close out the match. Maximo Dowling led with 4 kills.

Scarlet Hawks Standout

• Maximo Dowling with 8 kills and 6 digs
• Aaron Hanny with 8 kills and 10 digs
• Raul Matos with 8 kills, 3 blocks and 9 digs
• Elijah Johnson with 27 assists, 2 blocks and a team-leading 18 digs
• Jelani Kimoto with 5 kills and 4 blocks
• Zachary Baus with 10 digs

Inside The Box Score

• Gerald Malana of North Park led all players with 11 kills
• The Scarlet Hawks finished with a .215 attack percentage; the Vikings hit .061
• The match featured 26 tie scores and 11 lead changes

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will wrap up their play in the Cal-Lu-Fornia Invitational with a pair of matches on Saturday, starting with 15th-ranked UC Santa Cruz at 2:00pm CT, and close out with host and 7th-ranked Cal Lutheran at 5:00pm CT.