Men's Volleyball Topped In Saturday Triangular

CHICAGO, Ill. (WLCSports.com) - Wisconsin Lutheran College dropped a pair of 3-0 matches to host Illinois Tech and Baldwin Wallace on Saturday at the Keating Sports Center.

The Warriors (4-14, 0-4 NACC) fell in their first match of the day to the Scarlet Hawks (7-9, 3-1 NACC) by scores of 25-16, 25-18, 25-20. WLC was never able to take the lead over IIT throughout the first two sets of the NACC match. In a back-and-forth third set which featured 10 ties and two lead changes, Wisconsin Lutheran and Illinois Tech were knotted 18-18, but the Scarlet Hawks ended the match by scoring seven of the last nine points. 

The Warriors wrapped up their first match with 27 kills, 18 errors, and 96 attempts for a hitting percentage of .094. Freshman Drew Wempner (West Allis, Wis.) led WLC with eight kills. Sophomore Jay Thammavongsa (Franklin, Wis.) tallied 19 assists. Defensively, Thammavongsa and sophomore James Biedenbender (La Crosse, Wis.) had six assists each.

Jackson Van Engen totaled a match-high 11 kills for IIT, which hit an impressive .418 on 41 kills, eight errors, and 79 swings. Bryan Evans added a double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs.

Wisconsin Lutheran dropped its second contest of the day to the Yellowjackets (17-6) by scores of 25-15, 25-18, 25-20. The Warriors trailed 10-8 in the first set of the non-conference contest before BW rattled off a 7-1 scoring run to take control. A 4-0 spurt from Baldwin Wallace early in the second set erased a slim lead for WLC, which played catch up the rest of the way. Wisconsin Lutheran erased an early deficit to even the score at 6-6 in the third set, but the Yellowjackets pulled away from a 12-11 lead with a 7-0 run.

Junior Grant Wempner (Garden Grove, Calif.) and freshman Marcus Fitzsimmons (Muskego, Wis.) tallied five kills apiece for the Warriors, who recorded 23 kills on 80 attempts with 18 errors for a 063 clip. Thammavongsa collected 10 assists. Drew Wempner added three block assists and freshman Connor Haeuser (West Bend, Wis.) recorded a season-high 10 digs.

Michael Beard finished with a match-high 15 kills and Marquis Kelly collected a double-double with 11 kills and 11 digs. BW hit ,352 behind 41 kills, nine errors, and 91 total attacks.

WLC starts a five-match homestand on Wednesday when it hosts Lakeland (5-11, 0-4 NACC) at 5 p.m. at the Time of Grace Center. Live coverage links will be available at WLCSports.com.