Indiana Tech men's volleyball team which includes T&T's Daynte Stewart defeated Judson University in three sets (25-16, 25-17, 25-20), Saturday afternoon inside the Linder Fitness Center in Judson, to end a quick two-match Illinois road trip this week.
Stewart, a national senior and Under-23 beach volleyballer, had a match-high 11 kills to go along with three digs and a .273 hitting percentage. Raekwon Rogers had six kills while Brandon Jones dished out 17 assists and eight digs. Chase Christiansen had five solo blocks and picked up two block assists for seven in all.
The first set was evenly matched between the two teams through the first 11 points, but the Warriors ripped off a 9-0 run to go up 14-6. Tech took advantage of back-to-back service aces from Joey Hermes and a pair of kills from Dante Siracusa during the spurt to gain control of the set. The Warriors continued to roll through the rest of the first set and grew their lead to as many as 10 points at 19-9. The Eagles were able to stave off two match points before Christiansen threw down a block to give the visitors the opening set, 25-17.
The second set followed the same flow of the first, with the Eagles hanging with the Warriors early but used a 7-2 spurt to take a 12-7 lead and never looked back. That run was followed up by a 6-2 spurt that was powered by a pair of kills from six-foot-three Stewart, an Electrical Engineering Sophomore, that pushed the advantage to 18-11. A 3-0 run, that was capped by another solo block from Christiansen, moved the lead to 21-12 as the Warriors took a commanding 2-0 lead thanks to the 25-17 set win.
The hosts came out firing in the third set with a 5-3 lead, but Tech responded with a 5-2 spurt to go ahead 8-7. The two teams found themselves knotted up at 11, but the Orange and Black grabbed the momentum with a 4-0 run that put the Warriors in the lead for good at 15-11. The Eagles would attempt to make the match go into a fourth set as they cut the deficit down to 20-17, but the Warriors held strong and took the sweep with a 25-20 win.
Tech (2-1) returns to action on Wednesday as they host Lincoln College. First serve is set for 4 pm from the Schaefer Center.