QUINCY, Ill. - The Hawks continued their run of fine form on Tuesday (Jan. 30) with a sweep of the Miners of Missouri S&T (25-21, 25-23, 25-15). Raje Alleyne accounted for over half of his teams kills, shouldering the load with 22 tallies in that department for a season-high to propel Quincy to victory and a 4-0 start to the 2024 campaign. 

Set One

S&T led in the early going jumping out to a 5-3 advantage before QU took three of the next four on an error and two kills from Alleyne to push knot the at 6-6. Shortly after at 9-7 Miners, two kills from Alleyne and one from Keegan Carey along with an error put the Hawks ahead 11-9. 

A response of four-straight points for S&T found the Hawks chasing once more down 13-11 until a three-point run featuring kills from Logan Gieseke and Alleyne along with an ace for Carey made it 15-14 QU. 

Things remained tightly contested down the stretch until a huge four-point rally from the Hawks at 21-21 closed out the set. Two Miners errors along with a block from Alleyne and another ace from Carey sealed a 25-21 winner in the first set. 

Set Two

After receiving a punch in the mouth to end the last set, S&T opened the second set playing with a purpose, doubling up the Hawks to a 10-5 score.

Later in the set at 13-8 S&T, QU took five of the next six points to slim the deficit to one at 14-13 before the Miners got them all right back with a four point run of their own to replenish the advantage to 18-13. 

S&T clung on to a 21-17 advantage heading into the crunch time and that's when Quincy stepped up once again as they did in the first set, this time using a six-point run featuring a kill and two blocks for Alleyne as well as a block for Roman Deryckere and a couple of S&T errors to to lead it 23-21. 

The late run allowed the Hawks to trade points on kills from Alleyne to complete the comeback and win the set 25-23. 

Set Three

Looking to keep up the win streak in matches and sets on the young season, QU used a four-point run at 4-4 to lead 8-4 thanks to a couple of errors, a kill from Alleyne and a service ace from Dylan Feely. 

It wasn't until the 9-8 mark that the Hawks started to pull away in the set, taking eight of the next 10 points for a 17-10 advantage. 

Quincy maintained good lead at 19-14 heading into the late stages, but a four-point run on a kill from Deryckere, an error and back-to-back aces from Barnabas Fenyvesi put the Hawks in the drivers seat up 23-14. 

Following an S&T point, a kill from Alleyne and an ace from Deryckere capped off a convincing 25-15 win in the third set for the sweep. 

Next up for the Hawks is the commencement of MIVA play with the hosting of the conferences newest member in Queens University of Charlotte on Friday (Feb. 2). First serve is slated for 7:00 PM from Pepsi Arena.