Chicago, Ill. — Illinois Tech women's volleyball had an opportunity to solidify their position in the top four of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference standings Thursday night when they hosted third-place Lakeland University at the Keating Center. The Scarlet Hawks jumped out to a 2-0 match lead, and held a four-point lead late in set 3. But the Muskies rallied with 7 straight points to take the set and carried that momentum the rest of the way in their 3-2 (25-22, 25-22, 22-25, 18-25, 15-17) victory. The Scarlet Hawks rallied from 6-8 to 11-9 in the fifth set, but the push was not enough in the deciding set.
The Scarlet Hawks are now 14-9 overall and 5-3 in NACC play, dropping to 5th place. Lakeland is 15-7 overall and 6-2 in NACC play, still holding 3rd place.
How It Happened
After Lakeland scored the first two points, the Scarlet Hawks moved in front 4-2 on a
Sydney Wilson kill, a
Payton Smith service ace, a Lakeland attack error and a
Karla Trautmann Mendez kill, but Lakeland answered to lead 6-4. The teams traded points through an 11-11 tie before
Victoria Aspurez put the Scarlet Hawks ahead 12-11, and
Rowan Midgette served a four-point run that included a Smith kill, Midgette ace and Aspurez kill for a 16-11 lead. The Scarlet Hawks pushed the margin to 21-14 with help from consecutive Lakeland attack errors, but Lakeland later used three straight kills by Samya Hughes, Emily R Hansen and Laura Pearson to get within 23-22. A Rylee Esquibel service error gave the Scarlet Hawks set point, and Smith finished the set with a kill from Midgette for a 25-22 win.
The Scarlet Hawks started the second set with back-to-back Wilson kills and went ahead 8-5 after a
Lilia Donaldson kill and a Wilson ace, but Lakeland answered with five straight points, the last four on Maleigha Kovalaske's serve, to move in front 10-8. The Scarlet Hawks got back to 11-11 on a Lakeland attack error and later went ahead 14-13 on consecutive kills from Aspurez and Smith, but Lakeland scored the next four points and later led 20-16. The Scarlet Hawks erased that deficit with four straight points, using three Lakeland attack errors and Donaldson's kill to tie the set at 20-20. After Lakeland moved back ahead at 21-20 and 22-21, the Scarlet Hawks closed with the final four points: a Lakeland attack error, Smith's kill, a block by Aspurez and Midgette, and
Brooke Rifkin's service ace for a 25-22 set win.
The third set moved back and forth early, with the Scarlet Hawks taking a 5-3 edge on a Trautmann Mendez kill before Lakeland pulled even and later moved ahead 16-14. The Scarlet Hawks answered with blocks involving Donaldson, Midgette and Aspurez, and an Aspurez kill gave the Scarlet Hawks a 17-16 lead before they pushed it to 19-17. Smith added a kill, Trautmann Mendez followed with another, and Smith served an ace to make it 22-18, but Lakeland scored the final seven points, including two Katie Westerholm aces and four Maleigha Kovalaske kills, to take the set 25-22.
Lakeland scored the first three points of the fourth set on a Rylee Esquibel ace, a Laura Pearson kill and a Scarlet Hawks attack error, before the Scarlet Hawks used a service error and a Lakeland setting error to get back within 4-3. Lakeland rebuilt the margin to 10-4 behind three straight Samya Hughes kills, but Donaldson and Smith had kills around Trautmann Mendez Mendez's ace to cut it to 10-7. After Lakeland moved ahead 19-10, Trautmann Mendez and Donaldson put down kills and Aspurez served an ace to bring the Scarlet Hawks to 19-13, but Lakeland pushed the score to 23-15 with help from kills by Emily R Hansen and Maleigha Kovalaske and a Caitlyn Pernsteiner block.
Payton Smith's kill brought the Scarlet Hawks to 23-17 and a Lakeland attack error made it 24-18, but a Scarlet Hawks service error closed the set for Lakeland, 25-18.
The Scarlet Hawks moved in front 3-1 on an Aspurez service ace, but Lakeland worked back and took an 8-6 lead with service aces by Katie Westerholm and Maleigha Kovalaske along the way. The Scarlet Hawks turned that 8-6 deficit into an 11-9 lead, tying the set on a Midgette-Aspurez block before back-to-back Smith kills and a Lakeland attack error. Lakeland scored the next four points for a 13-11 lead, but the Scarlet Hawks came back from 14-12 with a Wilson kill, another Aspurez ace and a Trautmann Mendez-Donaldson block to move ahead 15-14. Maleigha Kovalaske tied the set at 15-15 and added another kill for 16-15 before Emily R Hansen closed Lakeland's 17-15 set win.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Rowan Midgette
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- team-high 30 assists
- team-high 22 digs
- team-high 8 total blocks, including 1 solo
Payton Smith
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- team-high 13 kills
- team-high 15.0 points
- 8 digs
- 2 service aces
Lilia Donaldson
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- 11 kills with 1 error on 24 attempts
- .417 hitting percentage
- 6 total blocks
- 14.0 points
Brooke Rifkin
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- 20 digs
- 4 assists
- 1 service ace
Annalise Clark
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- 18 digs
- 2 assists
Lakeland Top Performers
Maleigha Kovalaske
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- 22 kills
- 25.5 points
- 18 digs
- 3 service aces
Ryan Figi
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- 34 digs
- 3 assists
- 1 service ace
Rylee Esquibel
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- 23 digs
- 4 service aces
- 3 kills
Laura Pearson
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- 5 total blocks
- 5 kills on .625 hitting percentage
- 1 service ace
Sydney Gay
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- 22 assists
- 8 digs
- 2 service aces
Match Notes
- The Scarlet Hawks fall to 2-9 lifetime against Lakeland.
- Team - Achieved a season-high total of 106 digs in the match.
- Midgette - Set a new career-highs with 8 total blocks and 22 digs
- Wilson - Recorded a season-high 13 digs.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks travel to Lisle, Illinois, to face Benedictine University on Thursday, Oct. 29, at 6 p.m. in NACC play.
