CHICAGO, Ill. - The Illinois Tech men's volleyball team hosted a Friday night match against NAIA opponent St. Xavier University. The nearby school was able to defeat the Scarlet Hawks 3-1, dropping Tech to 7-13 on the season.
How it Happened
After hanging with the Cougars early in the first set, the visitors managed to pull away from Tech thanks to two key aces and some attack errors on Tech's side. A .435% hit percentage for St. X compared to Tech's .036% also did the Hawks in.
The Cougars once again used a strong attack to take the second set, but things changed in set three. Behind improved play at the net, the Scarlet Hawks won 25-23 to force a fourth. An impressive double block by Andriy Bench and Lukasz Kupiec halted a Cougar rally to ice the set.
In the fourth and final set, the Cougars used a late run to pull ahead. With the score tied at 20-20, SXU scored four straight points thanks to two of Jake Olsen's match-high 19 kills and two attack errors from Tech. Cinjun Coe recorded a kill to keep the match alive, but Olsen smashed another kill to give SXU the win.
Scarlet Hawk Standouts
Coe led the team with 15 kills.
Kupiec tallied 14 klls and a team-high 12 digs.
Daniel Throop had 20 assists to lead the Scarlet Hawks.
Stats to Know
Blocks were a big emphasis in tonight's match, with the Cougars (two solo, 14 assisted) outdoing the Hawks (one solo, two assisted).The Cougars (44 kills, .228%) bested the Scarlet Hawks (37 kills, .067%) bested Tech in both of the main attacking categories.SXU outdug Tech 63-47.
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