LISLE, Ill.–The Illinois Tech men’s volleyball team took a short drive down interstates 290 and 88 on Wednesday evening to oppose the fifth-ranked Eagles of Benedictine University in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match. BenU (14-2, 7-1 NACC) proved to be a tough test, downing Illinois Tech (2-11, 1-7 NACC) in straight sets.

Set Scores

• BenU 3, Tech 0 (16-25, 18-25, 21-25)

How It Happened

• In the first set, Benedictine jumped out to the fast start, taking a 4-0 lead before an Easton Kays kill put Tech on the board. While Kays himself would tally four kills and a .375 hit percentage in the first set, the Eagles offense hit an astounding .458% in the set to take a 1-0 lead.
• The second set was tight early on, with the Scarlet Hawks holding a few early leads behind the offense of Kays, Andriy Bench, and Michael Johnson. However, the Eagles were able to right things mid-set and ended up hitting .556% in the frame.
• Tech continued to run its offense through Bench and Kays in set three, with Bench reaching double-digit kills for the match. The Scarlet Hawks worked from behind to take a 19-18 lead on an Andriy Bench block, but Benedictine responded with a 4-0 run to re-take a more decisive advantage. An Eagles attack error and a Bench kill would be the only remaining Tech points as BenU went on to ice the match 25-21.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Bench talled 10 kills and two blocks (one solo, one assisted) to lead Tech in both categories.
• Kays chipped in seven kills.
• Michael Ganczar added 24 assists.

Up Next

• Men’s Volleyball will host Loras College on Friday at 7 p.m. for a non-conference contest. Live audio, video, and statistics will be available for the Keating Sports Center contest. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.