DE PERE - With both teams battling to keep their hopes for a Northern Atheltics Collegiate Conference Tournament berth alive, St. Norbert College survived a match filled with momentum swings to top Illinois Tech 3-2 at Mulva Family Fitness & Sports Center.
The Green Knights (12-13, 5-6 NACC) won the first two sets but then finished off the Scarlet Hawks (6-17, 4-7) with a fast start in the fifth set to win 25-21, 31-29, 27-29, 24-26, 15-11.
In addition to the three deuce sets, the match featured 48 ties and 20 lead changes. The second set alone had 22 ties and seven lead changes, while the third set had 13 ties and seven lead changes. The fourth set added 10 ties and four lead changes.
St. Norbert jumped out to a 6-2 lead in Set 1 and eventually built a 13-4 advantage. Illinois Tech came back to cut it to 17-14 and 18-15, but the Green Knights would open it back to 22-15 en route to a 1-0 lead. The Green Knights held a 24-23 lead in Set 2 before the Scarlet Hawks would have five set points with the host scrambling back to tie each time. St. Norbert then closed the second set on a 3-0 run after a Tech service error, a
Noah Cullen kill and a block from
Jacob Van Ooyen and
Kade Nelson to take a 2-0 lead.
The Green Knights then had three match points at the end of Set 3 at 24-23, 26-25 and 27-26, but this time it was the visitor which battled back with a 3-0 run to get to within 2-1. St. Norbert trailed 23-22 in Set 4 before getting a kill by
Kaden Kornaus (pictured) and a Tech attacking error to go up 24-23, but the Scarlet Hawks again fashioned a 3-0 spurt to knot the match at 2-2.
After surrendering the first point in Set 5, the Green Knights went on a 4-0 run thanks to kills by
Michael Whitney, Nelson and two by Kornaus. St. Norbert eventually pushed out to a 10-4 edge after a block by Cullen and
Barry Applewhite, but Illinois Tech made one last-ditch rally with a 6-2 run to get to within 12-10. Kornaus' kill made it 13-10 before a St. Norbert service error cut the lead to two. But Kornaus cashed in again and a Tech attack error closed out the tense 3-2 victory.
St. Norbert hit .283 with 70 kills against 23 errors in 166 attempts - the third time the Green Knights have had at least 70 kills in a match, all coming this season. Kornaus finished with 20 kills, with six coming in the decisive fifth set, for his third career match with at least 20 terminations. Cullen added 16 kills, while Nelson totaled 13 against one error in 26 swings. Whitney finished with 56 assists. Nelson had three service aces.
Ryan Conway had a match-high 17 digs, while
Zach Hanse registered a career-high 16 digs. Applewhite had five blocks, Nelson four, and Van Ooyen and Whitney with three apiece.
Illinois Tech hit .247, with 72 kills against 29 errors in 174 swings. Maximo Dowling finished with 21 kills to lead the Scarlet Hawks.
