Greencastle, Ind. — Women's Volleyball defeated Anderson (IN) 3-0 on Friday, winning 25-22, 25-20, 25-23 at Neal Fieldhouse. The Scarlet Hawks closed the sweep by turning a 20-22 third-set deficit into a 25-23 set win. This match was the first of 3 Illinois Tech will play in the Depauw Invitational this weekend. The Scarlet Hawks are now 3-2 overall. The Ravens are 3-2 overall.
How It Happened
The Scarlet Hawks started the opening set with a
Payton Smith kill from
Rowan Midgette and a Ravens attack error for a 2-0 lead, but the Ravens moved in front 6-3 and later 8-5. After Taylor Bock's kill made it 9-6, the Scarlet Hawks scored four straight, with Smith putting down a kill,
Victoria Aspurez and
Olivia McMath combining on a block, and two Ravens attack errors giving the Scarlet Hawks a 10-9 lead. The teams traded points through the middle of the set, with the Scarlet Hawks getting kills from
Brooke Rifkin,
Karla Trautmann Mendez,
Sydney Wilson,
Lilia Donaldson and Smith while the Ravens pulled even at 16-16 and 18-18. The Ravens tied it again at 22-22 on a Lacy Rathbun ace, but Trautmann Mendez followed with a kill, an Amy Nye bad set brought set point, and Wilson finished the 25-22 set with a kill from Midgette.
The Scarlet Hawks started the second set with two Trautmann Mendez kills around a Ravens ball-handling error for a 3-0 lead, but the Ravens answered with a Lacy Rathbun kill, a Scarlet Hawks attack error and a Blythe Young ace to tie it at 3-3. The teams traded points through 7-7 before the Scarlet Hawks moved ahead 12-8 behind kills from Donaldson and Wilson and an
Annalise Clark service ace. After kills by Smith and Aspurez helped the Scarlet Hawks build a 16-10 lead, Wilson, Trautmann Mendez and Donaldson added kills and Donaldson teamed with Trautmann Mendez on a block to make it 21-13. The Ravens scored four straight points late to close within 23-19, but Trautmann Mendez put the Scarlet Hawks at set point with a kill from Rifkin and ended the set with another kill from McMath for a 25-20 win.
The Ravens moved ahead 12-6 with four straight points, a stretch that included a Jayda Lanham kill and two Scarlet Hawks attack errors. With the Scarlet Hawks down 17-11, McMath put down a kill to start a 7-0 push, and Clark then served six straight points, adding an ace before Donaldson and Smith kills put the Scarlet Hawks in front 18-17. The Ravens answered with five straight points to move back ahead 22-18, with Taylor Bock contributing the kill that tied the set at 18-18 and two more kills during the run. The Scarlet Hawks came back again with Smith's kill, Rifkin's ace and consecutive Aspurez kills to tie it at 22-22, and after the Ravens took a 23-22 lead, Aspurez's block, Trautmann Mendez's kill and Midgette's ace closed the set 25-23.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Karla Trautmann Mendez
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- team-high 14 kills
- .314 hitting percentage
- 7 digs
- team-high 14.5 points
Rowan Midgette
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- team-high 22 assists
- 6 digs
- 1 service ace
Payton Smith
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- 10 kills
- .318 hitting percentage
- 4 digs
Lilia Donaldson
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- 7 kills with no errors on 16 attempts
- .438 hitting percentage
- 1 block assist
Annalise Clark
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- team-high 3 service aces
- team-high 8 digs
Ravens Top Performers
Jayda Lanham
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- 16.5 points
- 13 kills
- 9 digs
- 2 service aces
Taylor Bock
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- 14.5 points
- 12 kills on .409 hitting
- 2 blocks
- 1 service ace
Blythe Young
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- 30 assists
- 7 digs
- 1 service ace
Lacy Rathbun
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- 16 digs
- 8 kills
- 1 service ace
Match Notes:
- This was the first win for the Scarlet Hawks against the Ravens, improving to 1-4 overall. This was the first meeting between the schools since 2018.
Up Next
the Scarlet Hawks continue the Depauw Invitational against Monmouth College on Saturday, Sept. 12, at 10 a.m. in Greencastle, Indiana.
