FORT WAYNE – The No. 4- ranked Indiana Tech men's volleyball team earned a pair of wins over the weekend. After coming off a win against Lourdes University and claiming the regular season Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) championship, the Warriors continued their dominance with a sweep of Lawrence Tech and Wittenberg University.
Friday | Lawrence Tech (25-19, 25-16, 25-20)
Daynte Stewart had a game-high 14 kills to go along with seven digs and a block while
Dante Siracusa added 13 kills.
Raekwon Rogers had six kills, two assists, a service ace, and a block while
Chase Christiansen led the block category for the team with three.
Brandon Jones dished out a game-high 38 assists and four digs while
Joey Hermes posted a game-high 16 digs, two assists, and a service ace.
The first set was fairly even matched as the two teams were tied up at 7 to start. However, a 4-0 run by the Warriors allowed for an 11-7 lead. The two teams traded points back and forth for the next five points, but three straight points by Tech propelled the hosts out to a 16-10 advantage. The Blue Devils managed a little spurt of their own by going on a 6-2 run that got them within one at 20-19. The Orange and Black managed to hold the visitors off to win the opening set.
The Warriors jumped out to an early 6-2 lead to start the second set before the Blue Devils would strike back with a kill to cut the lead down to three. Tech made another run scoring five of the next six points to push the lead to 13-6. The two teams trade points for a little before the Warriors got back into their offensive groove again by taking five consecutive points down the stretch to grab the second set.
The Warrior offense continued to prove to be a force as they hit a .500 attack percentage on 18 kills and only three errors. Once again, it was Tech jumping out with the 9-5 lead to start the third set before the guests answered back with a run of their own to cut lead down to one, 14-13. Tech battled back and forth with the Blue Devils for several points but three straight points late into the set showed to be the difference maker as they took the 24-19 lead and eventually ended the match with a kill by Siracusa.
Sunday | Wittenberg (25-10, 25-15, 25-16)
Chase Christiansen had a game-high 10 kills and two blocks while
Ryan Griffel added seven kills, two service aces and two assists.
Peter Demoulin had a dominance performance at the net posting six blocks, four kills and two assists while
Chandler Davis dished out 21 assists and
Jacob Carrico had eight digs.
The Warriors had a dominant performance Sunday afternoon by only allowing their opponent a total of 41 points, never exceeding 16 points in a set. The Tigers were the first to strike in the first set, but it was not long before Tech answered back with the next five points to take the 5-1 lead. It was all Orange and Black as the visitors only managed to score 10 points in the set.
The second set showed to be similar as Tech jumped out to an early 12-6 lead. The two teams traded points for the next several points until the hosts took control by taking the 24-14 lead and never turning back as they took the second set. The third set proved to be no different besides the Tigers gaining an early 4-2 lead. Tech was not fazed by the early jump the visitors took as they eventually went on a 9-3 run to regain the lead, 11-7. The visitors answered back with three straight points of their own to come within one, but the Warriors responded right back with eight straight points to make the lead 19-10. Wittenburg tried to get things going by going on little scoring spurts, but it was not enough as the Warriors took the match.
Tech (27-1, WHAC 13-1) will host the WHAC Tournament (April 1-2), facing off against Siena Heights Friday evening at 7:30 p.m. inside the Schaefer Center.
