By: After a convincing first set win, the Lady Blues lost their offensive spark and allowed the Highlanders to come from behind for a 3-1 win.
Box Score JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Early on in the 3rd annual Set, Serve and Rally for a Cure match between MacMurray and the Illinois College volleyball team, the match looked like it would turn into a rout. The Lady Blues could do no wrong in the first set and stormed out of the gates with a 25-14 win. After that however, the offense couldn't find its way. Giving the Highlanders nearly as many freebies via attack errors as they had kills in the final three sets, Illinois College stumbled to a 3-1 defeat (25-14, 20-25, 20-25, 19-25) across town at the Bill Wall Gymnasium.
The errors that would doom them later on were nowhere to be found in the first set. Illinois College had 12 kills and only two errors to take the 1-0 lead in the match. After scoring the first three points to quickly grab control, IC's lead would grow to as many as 13 points later on in the set.
Holly Crocher had four kills and two block assists to help the Lady Blues along as the team combined to hit .455 compared to MacMurray's -.037.
The Highlanders began to show signs of life at the beginning of the second set. The match was level all the way to 12-12 until consecutive aces helped MacMurray nab a 15-12 lead. A kill from
Lisa Lowry and a block from Crocher and
Mikayla Greenwood brought IC back within a point, but that would be as close as the Lady Blues would get as MacMurray brought its home crowd back into it with the 25-20 win.
After giving up the first five points of the third set, Illinois College would battle back to within two at 15-13 after kills from
Erin Satterlee and Lowry. The next two points would go to MacMurray however, and the Lady Blues couldn't close the gap again, giving the Highlanders a 2-1 lead.
Lowry opened the fourth set with an ace and the first two points went to IC, but MacMurray then reeled off six straight to once again put the Lady Blues on the defensive. This time, Illinois College would come back to lead, 12-11, after a pair of Highlander attack errors. A kill from
Courtney Louveau actually put IC up by as many as three at 18-15. Unfazed, MacMurray came back with six straight points for the second time in the set to take a 21-18 lead and the Lady Blues this time didn't have an answer. Though another kill from Louveau stemmed the tide, the final four points were MacMurray's in a 25-19 win.
Lowry paced the offense with nine kills on the night, adding 16 assists as well. Crocher, Louveau and Satterlee all had seven kills. Louveau added a double-double with 16 assists and 13 digs.
Illinois College wraps up Midwest Conference action this weekend. First up is a match with Cornell on Oct. 24 at 7 p.m. in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
