By: Following a close three-set loss to Franklin College on Saturday morning, the Lady Blues outlasted St. Mary’s (IN) in five sets on Saturday afternoon.
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Box Score 2
JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team went 1-1 for the second day in a row on Saturday, ending the second home tournament of the season with a 2-2 record and moving to 5-8 overall on the season. The Lady Blues fell to Franklin College in three closely-contested sets, then knocked off St. Mary's College (IN) to keep the Belles from a perfect 4-0 record in the tournament.
Illinois College has one more non-conference match before starting Midwest Conference play. The Lady Blues will travel to take on Webster University on Sept. 19 at 6 p.m.
Franklin College 3, Illinois College 0
(25-27, 23-25, 23-25)
Each set between the Lady Blues and Grizzlies went down to the wire, but Franklin pulled out all three to earn the 3-0 sweep over Illinois College to start the day.
Ali Pankey led IC and tied for match-high honors with 12 kills.
Elizabeth Ganley recorded a double-double with 24 assists and 11 digs.
Kori Hayes came up just one kill shy of a double-double with nine kills and 12 digs.
Pankey and
Madie Budd tied for the team lead with 16 digs apiece in the match.
Illinois College 3, St. Mary's College 2
(21-25, 25-23, 25-21, 26-28, 15-10)
Brushing off the disappointment of their earlier loss, the Lady Blues came up with an impressive five-set win over a very good St. Mary's College team to end the tournament. One day after setting a career high with 21 kills, Pankey re-set the mark with 23 kills to lead four players for IC in double-figures.
The Belles took a 1-0 lead in the match after a back-and-forth first set ended with a 25-21 win for the visitors. Rachel Bonek had two straight kills to end it after St. Mary's went on top, 23-21. The Lady Blues recovered and used a late rally in the second set to tie the match at 1-1.
In the third set, two aces from Hayes were part of a five-point run that put Illinois College ahead, 14-7. The score remained close to the very end, but Pankey secured the victory with the final two kills to give the Lady Blues a 2-1 lead.
With St. Mary's ahead, 23-20, at the tail end of the fourth set, Illinois College tallied three straight points to knot the score at 23-23. The two teams traded points from there until the score was 26-26. In the end, kills from Bonek and Leah Buck forced a fifth set after a 28-26 St. Mary's win.
Illinois College grabbed control early on in the fifth set, scoring eight of the first 11 points including aces from Ganley and Budd. The Belles pulled within two points on three occasions, the last of which came at 12-10. The Lady Blues got back on serve after a service error and then extended the lead to 14-10 on a block from
Mikayla Greenwood and
Maddie Ramsey. Greenwood closed out the win with a kill on the final point for the 15-10 triumph.
