Chicago, Ill. — In a back and forth affair Wednesday night at the Keating Sports Center, Illinois Tech Women's Volleyball defeated Elmhurst 3-2, winning 18-25, 25-19, 25-18, 21-25, 15-7. In the fifth set, the Scarlet Hawks moved from a 2-0 deficit to a 5-3 lead before closing out the match.
Karla Trautmann Mendez paced the Hawks with 11 kills.
Sydney Wilson tied a career-high with 10 kills.
The Scarlet Hawks are 4-4 overall. The Bluejays are 3-5 overall.
How It Happened
The Scarlet Hawks moved in front 2-0 on a
Payton Smith kill from
Rowan Midgette and a Smith service ace, but the Bluejays worked back through early ties and went ahead 9-6 after an Aubrey LeCleir ace.
Karla Trautmann Mendez and Smith kills brought the Scarlet Hawks within 9-8, and
Sydney Wilson's kill from Smith later made it 12-11 before the Bluejays held a 15-12 edge. Smith's kill cut the margin to 16-14, but the Bluejays scored six straight points to build a 22-14 lead, with Samantha Webb and Tzvetomira Tchohadjieva adding kills and LeCleir serving two aces in that stretch. The Scarlet Hawks took the next three points to get to 22-17, but the Bluejays moved to 24-17 and closed the set 25-18 on Webb's kill.
After a sideout kill by Wilson put the Scarlet Hawks ahead 2-1,
Victoria Aspurez served the Scarlet Hawks through four straight points with two aces, a Bluejays attack error and a Trautmann Mendez kill for a 6-1 lead. The Bluejays cut the margin to 12-10 with a stretch that included a Samantha Webb kill and an Aubrey LeCleir ace, but Trautmann Mendez answered with a kill and the Scarlet Hawks pushed back to 15-10. The Scarlet Hawks later moved from 16-13 to 19-13 behind a Bluejays setting error and consecutive
Lilia Donaldson kills, then got kills from Wilson, Donaldson and Midgette to stay in front. An Aspurez kill and a block by Trautmann Mendez and Aspurez helped the Scarlet Hawks reach 24-17, and after two Bluejays points, a service error closed the set at 25-19.
The Scarlet Hawks built a 5-2 lead in the third set with Wilson putting down two early kills, but the Bluejays answered behind kills from Katie Hurta, Maggie Cross and Amber Otto and a block by Cross and Freddie Temple to move ahead 6-5. Donaldson tied it with a kill, and after Otto briefly put the Bluejays back in front at 7-6, Smith's kill started a four-point Scarlet Hawks push that included Midgette's ace, another Smith kill and an Aspurez-Trautmann Mendez block for a 10-7 lead. The Bluejays got within 10-9, but the Scarlet Hawks responded with kills from Aspurez, Wilson and Trautmann Mendez before Aspurez served consecutive aces to stretch the lead to 16-11. Donaldson and Midgette added kills as the Scarlet Hawks moved to 23-16, and after the Bluejays scored twice, Trautmann Mendez's kill and Aspurez's ace closed the set 25-18.
The Bluejays built an 8-2 lead in the fourth set, while the Scarlet Hawks' early points came on a Trautmann Mendez kill and Bluejays errors. Wilson's kill gave the Scarlet Hawks the serve at 12-8, and Aspurez served four straight points as a Donaldson kill and two Bluejays attack errors helped tie the set at 12-12. The Bluejays moved back in front 16-12, but the Scarlet Hawks cut the margin to 16-15 on a Trautmann Mendez service ace and a Freddie Temple ball handling error. The teams traded points late, with kills by Aspurez, Midgette and Wilson keeping the Scarlet Hawks within reach before the Bluejays closed the set 25-21.
After the Bluejays scored the first two points on attack errors, the Scarlet Hawks answered with an Aspurez kill, a Smith ace and a Trautmann Mendez kill during a four-point run to move ahead 4-2. Samantha Webb and Katie Hurta brought the Bluejays back within a point on separate kills, but Trautmann Mendez answered those swings with kills for 5-3 and 6-4, and the Scarlet Hawks were still in front 8-6 after a Grace Johnson kill. An Ella Duffy service error started the closing stretch, and
Brooke Rifkin served the next five Scarlet Hawks points, with kills from Midgette and Smith, a block by Midgette and Aspurez, and a Bluejays attack error making it 14-6. Johnson's kill stopped the run at 14-7, but Sophie Steinbrueck's service error on the next rally closed the set for the Scarlet Hawks, 15-7.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Brooke Rifkin
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- team-high 24 digs
- 7 assists
Victoria Aspurez
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- team-high 5 service aces
- 7 kills
- 4 block assists
- 14 points
Karla Trautmann Mendez
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- 11 kills
- 20 digs
- 2 service aces
- 14 points
Rowan Midgette
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- team-high 32 assists
- 12 digs
- 5 kills on .385 hitting
- 2 service aces
Sydney Wilson
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- 10 kills
- 7 digs
- .286 hitting percentage
Bluejays Top Performers
Katie Hurta
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- 15.0 points
- 14 kills
- 8 digs
- 1 service ace
Freddie Temple
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- 33 assists
- 11 digs
- 1 block assist
Elayna Ammerman
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- 24 digs
- 4 assists
- 2 service aces
Samantha Webb
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- 18 digs
- 9 kills
Aubrey LeCleir
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- 4 service aces
Match Notes:
- The Scarlet Hawks improved to 3-2 lifetime against the Bluejays, with a two-match win streak.
- Team - Achieved a hitting percentage of 0.173, exceeding their season average of 0.160.
- Team - Recorded 11 service aces in the match, surpassing their season average of 6.71.
- Rifkin - Achieved a season-high total of 24 digs.
- Trautmann Mendez - Achieved a season-high of 20 digs.
- Trautmann Mendez - Registered at least 11 kills in 5 consecutive matches.
- Smith - Recorded a season-high of 10 digs.
- Midgette - Reached a season-high of 32 set assists.
- Aspurez tied a career-high with 5 service aces.
- Wilson tied a career-high with 10 kills.
Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks travel to Lake Forest, Illinois, to face Lake Forest College on Friday, Sept. 18, at 7 p.m., the first of 3 matches this weekend in the Forester Invitational.
