Rockford, Ill. — Looking to stay within striking distance or jump into a top-four spot in the NACC standings, Illinois Tech women's volleyball swept Rockford 3-0 on Thursday night at Seaver Gym, winning 25-14, 25-14, 25-18. The Scarlet Hawks finished with 39 kills, 14 service aces and a .258 hitting percentage while holding Rockford to 22 kills and a .108 mark.
The Scarlet Hawks are 17-9 overall and 8-3 in NACC play. Both Edgewood and MSOE won Thursday night, so the Hawks remain in the fifth-seed position with one more regular season match to go: at Edgewood on Saturday. A Hawks win against the Eagles and losses by MSOE and/or Lakeland could catapult the Hawks into a top-four seed and host a quarterfinal tournament match at the Keating Center next Tuesday. A loss on Saturday and the Hawks will clinch the fifth seed, and open the tournament on the road. Rockford falls to 7-18 overall and 1-10 in NACC play.
How It Happened
The Scarlet Hawks started the opening set with a
Victoria Aspurez kill from
Olivia McMath and moved ahead 6-2 as
Karla Trautmann Mendez and
Lilia Donaldson supplied kills around a Donaldson/Trautmann Mendez block. After a
Payton Smith kill and service ace made it 13-6, Rockford scored twice, but an Aspurez kill, another Donaldson/Trautmann Mendez block and a Trautmann Mendez kill pushed the Scarlet Hawks to 16-8. Rockford answered with three straight points, including kills by Ashley Mersch and Jayce Shaw, to close to 16-11, but the Scarlet Hawks followed with four straight points behind Trautmann Mendez and Donaldson kills for a 20-11 lead. Donaldson and Smith added late kills,
Brooke Rifkin served an ace for 23-13, and a Rockford service error ended the set at 25-14.
Rockford led 11-8 after an Emmerson Heun kill and a Lilly Dewey service ace, but the Scarlet Hawks pulled even at 11-11 with a
Sydney Wilson kill and consecutive Rockford attack errors while
Toshiko Jones served. After Rockford moved back in front 12-11, Trautmann Mendez tied it with a kill, Aspurez served an ace, and Wilson added two kills as the Scarlet Hawks built a 16-12 lead. Rockford cut the margin to 16-14 before Wilson answered with a kill, then served out the set with four aces during an eight-point closing stretch for a 25-14 Scarlet Hawks win.
The third set stayed even through the early exchanges, with the Scarlet Hawks answering Rockford points behind kills from Donaldson,
Erin Nothdorf, Smith and Aspurez before Aspurez tied it at 13-13. Rifkin then served four straight Scarlet Hawks points, including two Trautmann Mendez kills and a Trautmann Mendez-Donaldson block, to move the Scarlet Hawks ahead 17-13. Rockford scored the next three points to get to 17-16, and after the teams traded points, Trautmann Mendez put down a kill for a 19-17 lead. From there, Donaldson and Smith added kills and
Annalise Clark served three consecutive aces as the Scarlet Hawks stretched the margin to 24-17, then closed the set at 25-18 after Rockford got one point back.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Karla Trautmann Mendez
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- team-high 13 kills
- .370 hitting percentage
- 3 total blocks
- team-high 14.5 points
Sydney Wilson
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- team-high 4 service aces
- team-high 9 digs
- 6 kills
- 10 points
Olivia McMath
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- team-high 17 assists
- 1 service ace
- 2 digs
Lilia Donaldson
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- 8 kills
- 3 total blocks
- 9.5 points
Rockford Top Performers
Jalyn Rhodes
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- 6 kills
- 5 total blocks
- 9.5 points
Ashley Mersch
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- 7 kills on .333 hitting
- 3 total blocks
- 9.0 points
Milee Law
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- 14 assists
- 4 digs
Match Notes
- The Scarlet Hawks improved to 11-1 lifetime against Rockford, winning the last 10 matches.
- Team - Recorded 14 service aces, above the season average of 8.0.
- Team - Posted a .258 hitting percentage, above the season average of .190.
- Team - Reached 1,000 season assists, totaling 1,014 after recording 35 in the match.
- Trautmann Mendez - Recorded at least 3 total blocks in 2 consecutive matches.
- Donaldson - Recorded at least 3 total blocks in 2 consecutive matches.
- Clark - Recorded 3 service aces, above their season average of 0.68.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks travel to Madison, Wisconsin, to face Edgewood University on Saturday, Nov. 7, 2026, at noon, in the final NACC regular season match for 2026.
