National men’s volleyballer, Daynte Stewart had a team-high 20 points as 11th- ranked Indiana Tech punched its way closer to another conference title after defeating 14th-ranked Siena Heights University 3-1 in the semifinals of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference (WHAC) Tournament inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center, Sylvania, Ohio on Friday.
Stewart, who was earlier in the day named as the lone Indiana Tech player to the First Team All-Conference had a team-best 14 kills, nine digs and six blocks while Second Team All-Conference selectee Chase Christiansen had 12 kills, and six blocks in the come-from-behind 15-25, 31-29, 25-20, 25-19 triumph to set up a finals’ showdown with regular-season joint WHAC winners, Lourdes University.
The pair of Raekwon Rogers and Dante Siracusa chipped in with 11 kills and ten kills respectively for Indiana while the former also had five blocks while setter Brandon Jones dished out a season-high 51 assists.
The first set was a tight contest through the first 19 serves with Indiana Tech holding a 10-9 lead, but an 11-0 run from the Saints put them up 20-10 and the game out of reach as Siena Heights took the 1-0 lead.
The second set featured 12 ties and seven lead changes in addition to 12 bonus points in the marathon game. Following a time-out by the Saints with the Warriors leading 17-11, SHU went on a 5-0 run to cut the deficit to 17-16.
However, Indiana Tech pushed the lead up to 24-22, but the Saints won the next three points to get to set point and the chance to go up 2-0, but a kill from Mason Milan knotted the set up at 25-25 before the Indiana Tech Warriors finally captured the second set thanks to a 3-0 run to tie the match up at 1-1.
Stewart and his team-mates came out swinging in the third with 16 kills and held an 18-13 lead, only for Siena Heights to cut the deficit to 20-18, but the latter couldn't get any closer as the Warriors took the 2-1 lead.The hot swinging continued for Tech in the fourth as they hit 19 kills and led for all but eight serves during the final set.
Leading 19-17, the Warriors finished the match on a 6-2 run to complete the comeback.The winner of the WHAC Tournament Championship earns the conference automatic bid to the National Association of Inter-Collegiate Athletics (NAIA) National Championship.