The Illinois Tech women’s volleyball team traveled to Marian University on Tuesday night for a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) match at Marian University. In a tight match, the Scarlet Hawks (3-10, 0-2 NACC) fell to the Sabres (4-12, 1-2 NACC) 3-2.

Set Scores

•  Marian 3, Illinois Tech 2: (14-25, 25-20, 26-24, 17-25, 16-18)

How it Happened

• After a first set that saw Marian take control, the Scarlet Hawk defense was awesome in set two. Illinois Tech totaled three blocks and held the Sabres to a -.041 hit percentage to even up the match.
• Set three started out in Illinois Tech’s favor, but a big Marian run erased an eight-point Hawk advantage. With Illinois Tech ahead 22-21, the Scarlet Hawks would swing momentum with a Karen Marrufo-Zubaran kill before hanging on to win 26-24.
• Marian was able to re-establish its offense in the fourth set, ending the 25-17 set on an Amber Yahr kill.
• In the fifth and final set, the Scarlet Hawks jumped out to a four-point lead at 11-7 before a 5-0 run gave the Sabres a 12-11 advantage. Illinois Tech forced an attack error to re-tie the score before a huge block assist by Ellie Leach and Sara Hassell put the Scarlet Hawks ahead and forced a Marian timeout. With the score tied at 16-16, the Sabres scored the final two points of the match.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

• Marrufo-Zubaran had 11 kills to lead Illinois Tech. She also tallied 16 digs.
• Justine Bracco was awesome, tallying eight kills, a .421 hit percentage, and four total blocks (one solo, three assisted).
• Allison Wilkins recorded a double-double (21 assists, 12 digs).
• Sinjin Acuna had 31 digs to lead the team. Courtney Curcio added 15.

Stats to Know

• Illinois Tech’s blocking kept the team in the match, outdoing Marian 9-5.
• Yahr, the Marian setter, had an astounding stat line of eight kills, 27 assists, and 21 digs.

Up Next

• Illinois Tech will oppose another NACC opponent on Friday with a road contest at Rockford University at 7:00 p.m.