Madison, Wis. - In a season littered with tough, close conference losses, the Illinois Tech men's volleyball team suffered one of their toughest conference losses of the season when they fell to host Edgewood College 3-1 in their regular season finale Saturday night in Madison. The loss dropped the Hawks into 8th place in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) standings with a 6-6 record. The Eagles also finished 6-6 in conference play, but with tie-breakers, finished in 6th place.

Although the Hawks had already clinched a spot in the NACC post-season tournament, going into Saturday night's match Illinois Tech had a chance to grab the fifth seed in the tournament. With the loss and the tie-breakers, the worst-case scenario came to fruition as the Hawks fell to the 8th seed. The significance of the swing from 5th seed to 8th seed means the Scarlet Hawks will have to take on #1 seed and 12th-ranked Aurora University on the road in the opening round of the NACC men's volleyball tournament Tuesday night.

The Scarlet Hawks jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the opening set, only to see the Eagles go on a 5-1 run to tie the set at 9-9. The Hawks would maintain several, narrow one-point leads on the Eagles through the middle portion of the set, with the last Hawks' lead coming at 19-18. The Eagles would respond with a 4-0 run to take a 22-19 lead, en route to a 25-22 set one victory. Set one featured 10 tie scores and 2 lead changes.

An early three-point deficit in the second set by the Scarlet Hawks was eventually erased when they tied the Eagles at 12-12. The teams would trade points before the Hawks took an 18-17 lead. A 6-2 response by Edgewood gave the Eagles a 23-20 lead. The Hawks would win the next three points to tie the set at 23-23. After another tie at 24-24, the Eagles won the next two points to close out set two 26-24. Set two had 10 tie scores and 3 lead changes.

The Hawks would get back into the match in the third set. With the teams tied at 3-3, the Hawks would use a 10-4 run to open up a 13-7 lead, their largest of the match. The Eagles would close within two points late at 23-21, but Illinois Tech won two of the next three points for the 25-22 set three victory.

The fourth and final set turned out to be the most competitive of the match, with the post-season seeding stakes on the line. The set featured 11 tie scores and five lead changes. The Hawks held a 15-12 lead midway through set four, but the Eagles would chip away, eventually taking a 17-16 lead. The Hawks would take a final lead at 23-22 on an attack error by Edgewood. But the Eagles closed out the set and the match with a 4-1 run for the 26-24 set four victory.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Aaron Hanny led the Scarlet Hawks with a career-high 19 kills on a .333 hitting percentage. Hanny also had 9 digs and 1 service ace
• Maximo Dowling added 10 kills, 4 total blocks and a team-leading 14 digs
• Elijah Johnson with 21 assists, 2 service aces and 5 digs
• Eli Sherman with 20 assists and 3 block assists

Inside The Box Score

• Owen Hartjes paced the Eagles with 11 kills and a .421 hitting percentage while adding 5 combined blocks
• The match featured 34 tie scores and 12 lead changes
• The Hawks finished with a .161 attack percentage; Edgewood had a .169 attack percentage

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will travel to Aurora on Tuesday evening to take on the #1 seed and 12th-ranked Spartans at 7:00pm in the opening round of the NACC Men's Volleyball Tournament.