Chicago, Ill. - The Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks put their best aprons on this past Saturday to host a tri-match featuring the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders and the Little Giants of Wabash College. The Hawks went 2-0 on the day, taking care to defend their home court. Knowing they had another match to play later, the Hawks (8-9, 4-1) made sure to make game one quick, defeating MSOE (6-9, 4-1) in three straight sets. Later in the evening, the Wabash Little Giants (12-6, 1-1) gave the Hawks a run for their money, forcing a five-set match, but the Hawks fought hard to earn a clean sheet on the day.  

Match 1: Illinois Tech 3 – MSOE 0  

• Set 1 - Illinois Tech 25 – MSOE 15: The Hawks got off to a hot start in set one. After scoring the first point of the game, they never looked back, only allowing the Raiders to get within 4 points the entire set, eventually winning 25-15. Riley Laite led the team with 6 kills, followed by Colton Farrell with 3.  

•    Set 2 - Illinois Tech 26 - MSOE 24: Set two proved to be a test of endurance: long rallies, 11 lead changes and a set of crucial serving aces were the name of the game. The Hawks led early in the set until the Raiders tied it up 10-10. In what seemed to be a turning point of the set, serving specialist Aaron Hanny delivered 3 services aces in a row to put the Hawks up 15-11. A few strong defensive plays from Eli Johnson weren't quite enough to keep that momentum, and the Raiders were able to tie the set up again at 18. A series of kills and 2 services aces from Riley Laite and a final kill from Paul Henderson were enough to put the set away, 26-24.   

• Set 3 - Illinois Tech 27 – MSOE 25: The Raiders got up to an early lead in the third set but a 4-0 run by the Hawks put them back on top, 6-4. Though the rest of the set remained close, the Hawks were able to maintain the lead for the majority. MSOE took the lead back with a kill from Callan Harris, going up 24-23. The Raiders took the Hawks to two set points before a 3-0 run sponsored by Colten Farrell and Riley Laite kills secured the set, and match, win for the Hawks with a final score of 27-25.  

Match 2:  Illinois Tech 3 – Wabash 2 

• Set 1 - Illinois Tech 25 – Wabash 14: Winning the first point of the set off a Sebastian Dominguez serve, the Hawks took off running. Aside from a tie game at 1-1, the Hawks held the lead for the entire first set. A 6-0 run to put the Hawks up 21-11 dug the Little Giants into a hole they couldn't climb out of. The Hawks took set one 25-14 paced by three kills apiece from Aaron Hanny and Riley Laite, despite Laite leaving the match early due to injury, and an ace from Eli Sherman.  

• Set 2 - Illinois Tech 25 - Wabash 22: The Little Giants started to gain some momentum in set two, tying the score at 1-1 and 11-11. The Hawks were still able to maintain the lead through the second set thanks to team leading 4 kills from Raul Matos. To their credit, the Little Giants hung on to four Illinois Tech set points before finally relinquishing the victory.  

• Set 3 - Wabash 25 - Illinois Tech 20: The third set started with Illinois Tech going up 1-0 once again, but this time the Little Giants were able to take an early lead. The Hawks tied the score up 8-8 and took the lead back briefly. The rest of the match was point for point with either team leading by more than 2 until a 7-4 run from the Little Giants put the set away. Aaron Hanny led the Hawks with 3 kills.  

• Set 4 - Wabash 25 - Illinois Tech 19: Having gained some momentum off set three, the Little Giants led for the entirety of the fourth set. Though the Hawks were able to get within 2 points at 16-18 and 18-20, they decided they were having so much fun playing that they wanted to go to a fifth set! The Little Hawks took set number four, tying the match at 2-2. Hanny added another 5 kills on the day.  

• Set 5 - Illinois Tech 15 - Wabash 13: As if the fans hadn't been through enough, set five turned into a nail biter. The Hawks got out hard, taking a 4-1 lead. Though they got up by as much as 5 points, the Little Giants came back to get within one, 13-12. The two teams traded service errors in the final points before a cheeky dump from Eli Sherman secured the victory for Illinois Tech. Paul Henderson had 2 kills and a service ace.  

Scarlet Hawk Standouts (combined matches)  

• Riley Laite with 19 kills, 4.75 kills per set, and 4 services aces in 4 sets played 

• Aaron Hanny with 14 kills (all from the second match), 1.75 kills per set, and 4 service aces over 8 sets played. Hanny led all players in kills in the match against Wabash. 

• Raul Matos with 13 kills, 48 receptions, and 2 service aces over 8 sets played 

• Eli Sherman with 36 assists, 4.5 assists per set average, 3 kills and 1 service ace over 8 sets played 

• Alec Donald with 37 receptions and 19 digs over 8 sets played 

• Zachary Baus with 21 digs and 2 assists over 5 sets played 

Inside The Box Score  

• Callan Harris had 16 kills and 2 block assists for MSOE 

• Illinois Tech and MSOE were tied 20 times throughout the match, 11 of which happened in the second set, and had 7 lead changes over 3 sets 

• In five sets played, the Illinois Tech-Wabash match only had 11 tie scores and 3 total lead changes. Illinois Tech had a 63% sideout average compared to 59% for Wabash.  

Up Next 

 The Scarlet Hawks will take a short trip to River Forest on Tuesday for a NACC matchup against Dominican University at 7:00 PM, before heading out on a long trip next weekend for a series of games in the Cal Lutheran Tournament.