By: After splitting the opening two sets, Knox took over the rest of the way and came away with a four-set win in the MWC opener on Wednesday.
Box Score GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team saw its three-match winning streak come to an end on Wednesday night in the Midwest Conference opener. The Lady Blues held on to win the second set and tie the match at 1-1 with Knox College, but the Prairie Fire claimed the next two sets to defend their home court and get the win. IC falls to 6-8 (0-1 MWC) with the 16-25, 25-23, 17-25, 22-25 loss.
Illinois College was its own worst enemy in the first set, committing seven attack errors with only five kills. Despite that, the set was still there to be won when a Knox service error closed the Lady Blues within two points at 17-15. That would be as close as IC would get though, with the Prairie Fire roaring back to win nine of the final 10 points and take a 1-0 lead.
It would be a different story at the beginning of the second set. Knox won the opening point, but a bad set tied it 1-1 and the Lady Blues won eight straight points with
Mikayla Greenwood on serve to make it 9-1. The lead grew to 11 points at 14-3 before the Prairie Fire began to rein the Lady Blues in. Shockingly, Knox would come all the way back to lead, 22-21, before
Erin Satterlee tied the set with a kill and
Courtney Louveau and
Holly Crocher ended it in favor of IC, 25-23.
A large lead to start a set again came into play in the third set. Knox tallied the first seven points before
Eve Bahler could put an end to the run. There would not be the type of comeback that the Prairie Fire managed the set prior, with IC able to close within 12-8 but then allow five straight points again to Knox to essentially put the set away.
The fourth set was finally the back-and-forth battle that was expected between two teams who went to five sets a year ago. The largest lead of the set was five points by Knox, 19-14, but Illinois College answered with four points in a row to force a Prairie Fire timeout. In the late stages, IC hung close with Knox but could never get the kill that would have tied it. The hosts held on to win 25-22.
Crocher led Illinois College with 15 kills and a .371 hitting percentage in the match.
Lisa Lowry added a double-double with 10 kills and 12 digs. Louveau also notched a double-double with 28 assists and 12 digs, while
Allison Perkins was a defensive stalwart for the Lady Blues with 26 digs.
Illinois College continues a three-match road trip this weekend, first heading off to face Carroll University on Friday night at 6 p.m. in Waukesha, Wis.
