DE PERE - St. Norbert College couldn't quite get over the hump in a 3-1 loss to Illinois Institute of Technology in a Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference match at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
 
The Green Knights fell to the Scarlet Hawks by scores of 25-20, 25-22, 19-25, 25-22.
 
The first set had seven ties and one lead change, with the last tie coming at 15-15. The Green Knights trailed 18-17 and 20-19 before Illinois Tech went on a 4-0 run to take a 24-19 lead. The second set had 11 ties and seven lead changes, with the final tie at 20-20. Illinois Tech would get the next two points and never lost the lead en route to a 2-0 match advantage.
 
St. Norbert was in solid control of Set 3, taking leads of 14-9, 17-12 and 20-15. Illinois Tech would close to 21-18 but the Green Knights closed out the set. Set 4 was another tight affair, with eight ties and three lead changes. St. Norbert fell behind 20-15 before going on a 5-0 run to tie the set at 20-20, with Kade Nelson getting two kills and Jake Krueger one during the run. But the Scarlet Hawks would get four points to take a 24-20 lead and eventually closed out the match on their third match point.
 
The Green Knights hit .189, with 53 kills and 26 errors in 143 attempts. Nelson set a school record for hitting percentage in a match at .619, with 15 kills and two errors in 21 attempts. Jake Bettag added 12 kills, while Owen Knezevich had eight. Eddie Pacula had 22 assists and Michael Whitney 19.
 
Krueger had 12 digs, while Kaden Kornaus had 11 and Ryan Conway 10.
 
Illinois Tech hit .281, with 52 kills and 14 errors in 135 swings. Jackson Van Engen had a team-high 14 kills.