SYLVANIA, Ohio--One day after knocking off the 2024 regular-season champion and nationally-ranked host Lourdes University, Lawrence Tech defeated the defending Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference men's volleyball champion Indiana Tech on Saturday at the Ebeid Recreation Center on Lourdes' campus. The fifth-seeded Blue Devils (15-14 overall) rallied for a 21-25, 30-28, 27-25, 25-20 victory over the Warriors to clinch their first WHAC crown in program history and the conference's automatic bid to the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics Tournament for the first time ever.

"I am very proud of the resilience and passion our guys play with. Our team fought through multiple adverse situations together (this season) and came out stronger because of it. I could not be happier to be the coach of such an amazing group of student-athletes," stated LTU third-year head coach Jacob Paige. "We have achieved for the first time in our program's history to make a Nationals berth and I cannot wait to go on this adventure with them. They have earned every moment of this success. My favorite part of this journey is that we get to do this together."

Junior Brendon Down pounded a match-best 25 kills for a school record on a .321 attack percentage to go along with four total blocks to pace LTU. Classmate JT McCarthy flourished with 12 kills (.450) and seven total blocks--both season highs. Sophomore Nathaniel Brownlee added 52 assists and a match-high 14 digs.

This weekend, several LTU single-season records were broken: sophomore Akram Askoul with 101 total blocks, Down with 371 kills and Brownlee with 1029 assists.

Indiana Tech's Daynte Stewart hit .438 with 23 kills and seven blocks, Dante Siracusa had 13 kills (.455) and Armaan Dosanjh made 42 assists.

Indiana Tech took a 1-0 lead by outhitting LTU .387 to .280.

In the second set, the Blue Devils evened the match by holding the Warriors to .163 hitting and saving a set-point-against at 27-26. Lawrence Tech, which led 20-14 at one point, won four of the last five points on two Down terminations and two Warrior attack errors.

Lawrence Tech took the lead in the match, 2-1, with a 27-25 third set win. The Blue Devils led 21-15 before the Warriors fought back to take a brief 23-22 advantage. But Down scored LTU's next three points on kills to go up 25-24. One of freshman Gustavo Machado's nine kills gave the Blue Devils a 26-25 lead and another Indiana Tech attack error ended the frame.

The Blue Devils went on a 7-1 scoring run to end the fourth set and clinch their 10th victory in a row. Down tallied two more kills and the Warriors committed three errors during the span.

Lawrence Tech will make its first appearance in the 2024 NAIA Men's Volleyball Championship, which will take place April 30 through May 4 at the Alliant Energy PowerHouse in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. More details about opponents and times will be released at a later date. Indiana Tech falls to 26-6 on the season and will await its fate on an at-large berth to the NAIA Championship.