CHICAGO, Ill. — The Wittenberg men's volleyball team won its third straight game Friday night, getting a 3-1 victory at Illinois Tech in a tightly contested match in which the four sets were decided by a combined 11 points. The Tigers won 21-25, 25-23, 25-22, 27-25.

The Basics

• Records: Wittenberg (4-5 overall), Illinois Tech (2-6 overall)
• Venue: Keating Sports Center - Chicago, Ill.
• Wittenberg is now 4-0 all-time against Illinois Tech.
• Third-year head coach Nathan Matthews is now 34-32 all-time at Wittenberg.

Stat Leaders

• Sophomore Michael Yurk (Indianpolis, Ind./Bishop Chatard) led the Tigers with 16 kills on the night and hit .282.
• Senior Tom Supan (Medina, Ohio/Medina) added 13 kills on a .250 hitting percentage.
• Sophomore Eli Halverson (Hamilton, Ohio/Badin) tallied 12 kills and a .269 hitting percentage.
• Senior Andrew Diaz de Padilla (Nipmo, Calif./Central Coast New Tech) posted a team-high 35 assists.
• Sophomore Jake Downs (Cincinnati, Ohio/Milford) had a team-best 14 digs.
• Grant Couper led Illinois Tech with 15 kills.

The Game

• A closely contested first set featured 13 tie scores, the last of which came at 20-all before Illinois Tech scored five of the next six points to win 25-21.
• Leading 13-12 in the second set, the Tigers put together a 6-0 run highlighted by two kills each from Yurk and freshman Reese Monnin (Xenia, Ohio/Carroll) and an ace from Yurk. Wittenberg turned that 19-12 edge into a 25-23 victory to tie the match at one set apiece.
• A kill and ace from Monnin put Wittenberg up 24-20 in the third set en route to the 25-22 victory capped by a kill from Supan.
• The fourth set was yet another close one, needing extra points to decide. The set featured 16 tie scores capped by a 25-all deadlock before the Tigers scored the final two points on Illinois Tech attack errors for the 27-25 victory to clinch the match.
• Wittenberg finished with 57 kills and a .248 hitting percentage on 141 total attacks, while Illinois Tech tallied 48 kills and a .192 hitting percentage on 130 total attacks.

Quote - Head coach Nathan Matthews

• "This team has never been tougher. Real toughness. Relentless focus on working together to achieve the goal no matter what obstacles were presented. This match represented our season thus far. About as much adversity as you could draw up. This time, we couldn't be stopped. I can't wait to see where we go from here."

Up Next

• The Tigers return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader at North Park. They'll face North Park at 1 p.m. followed by a 3 p.m. match against Aurora.