Saturday Split for Men’s Volleyball in New England

March 13, 2017Posted in: Athletics

The Illinois Tech Men’s Volleyball team competed in two matches on March 11 at Johnson & Wales University in Rhode Island. The Scarlet Hawks downed Eastern Nazarene College 3-0 before falling to JWU in straight sets.

Scores

  • Illinois Tech 3, ENC 0 (25-14, 25-16, 25-7)
  • JWU 3, Illinois Tech 0 (16-25, 18-25, 20-25)

How it Happened – ENC Match

  • For the second day in a row, the Scarlet Hawks jumped out to an early lead in the first set. Illinois Tech led 8-2 early before the Lions cut the lead down to 10-5. Illinois Tech opened up a 5-0 run to jump ahead 15-5. The lead never reached less than eight points after that as the Hawks cruised to a set one win, holding the Lions to a -.278 hitting percentage.
  • In set two, ENC managed to stay close early. A 4-0 Scarlet Hawk run to make the score 13-7 opened up the match for the first time. Illinois Tech would go on another 4-0 run later in the match to make the lead as high as nine. A Michael Drews kill gave the Scarlet Hawks a set two win.
  • Set three was arguably the best set of the season for Illinois Tech. The Scarlet Hawks hit an astounding .545% in the set while holding the Lions to a -.103% mark. The team opened up a 9-2 lead after an early 6-0 run and never looked back en route to a 25-7 clincher.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – ENC Match

  • Lukasz Kupiec led the way with 12 kills, a .750 hitting percentage, two aces, and 13 assists.
  • Drews tallied eight kills of his own with a .538 hitting percentage. He also had two aces.
  • Andrew Woltman led the squad with 15 assists.
  • Yuriy Shepta was a force at the net, leading all players with four blocks (one solo, three assisted).
  • Derek Bostick added 15 digs.

Stats to Know – ENC Match

  • The Scarlet Hawks outhit the Lions .400% to -.074%, outdoing the opponent 35-14 in kills.
  • Illinois Tech had eight aces compared to ENC’s one.
  • Illinois Tech racked up 11 total blocks (one solo, 10 assisted), while the Lions managed just three (one solo, two assisted).

How it Happened – JWU Match

  • The Scarlet Hawks stayed close in the first set until a 5-0 run put the Wildcats on top 11-5. Illinois Tech fought hard with a 4-0 run mid-set, but could not gain much traction as the hosts won the first set.
  • Set two was back-and-forth for most of the early going, but the Wildcats slowly seized control. Up 19-15, JWU went on a 3-0 run to take its largest lead of the set at seven. The Scarlet Hawks ran out of time in the set and headed into set three down 2-0.
  • The Wildcats answered an early 5-3 Scarlet Hawk advantage with a 5-0 run to take an 8-5 lead. JWU went ahead by as many as nine (21-12) before the Scarlet Hawks made up ground late. A 6-1 run highlighted by a Drews kill made it a 22-18 contest, but the Wildcats managed to hold off Illinois Tech for the win.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts – JWU Match

  • Kupiec led Illinois Tech in kills for the second straight match (seven). He also led the team in aces (two) and tied for the team-lead in assists (nine).
  • Woltman also had nine assists.

Stats to Know – JWU Match

  • The Wildcats led in kills (30-21) and hitting percentage (.295% compared to .042%).
  • JWU had seven service aces compared to Illinois Tech’s three.

Up Next

  • The Scarlet Hawks will host Wittenberg on Saturday, March 18 at 1 p.m. Live audio, video, and stats will be available. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.
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