Box Score 1
GALESBURG, Ill. – The Illinois College volleyball team ended the Knox Tournament with a 3-1 record, splitting two matches on Saturday afternoon. The Lady Blues battled Wheaton College (IL) for five sets before coming up short to start the day. In the second match of the day, Westminster College (MO) was unable to field a team, so IC came away with the forfeit victory to improve to 9-3 on the season. At the conclusion of the tournament,
Elizabeth Ganley was named to the All-Tournament Team.
The Lady Blues came back from a 2-0 deficit against Wheaton before falling in five sets (21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 25-17, 10-15). The Thunder led much of the way in the first set. Though IC was able to keep the score close, Wheaton finally put the set away by scoring the final two points after the Lady Blues had cut their deficit to two points on three occasions.
The second set was a real blow. With the score tied at 3-3, Illinois College rattled off nine straight points and looked to have total control of the set. Little by little, Wheaton chipped away at IC's lead until it pulled even at 18-18 and took a 19-18 advantage. After trailing 23-20 and using a timeout, Illinois College twice got within a point of the Thunder before a Colleen Smith kill ended it, 25-23.
Rather than packing it in, Illinois College rose to the occasion. Down 21-18 late in the third, two
Ali Pankey kills led a six-point burst from the Lady Blues to earn a set point at 24-21. Wheaton cut it briefly to 24-22 before a bad set ended it and cut the Thunder's lead in the match to 2-1.
The Lady Blues then came out rolling in the fourth set, taking the lead for good at 6-5 on a
Brooke Brandis ace. IC had its best hitting percentage of the match (.273) in the fourth set, while holding Wheaton to its lowest hitting percentage of any set. Back-to-back kills from Pankey made it 15-7 in the middle of the set and the lead maxed out at 24-15 before the Thunder were able to pull a couple points back late.
Rebecca Shields began the fifth and final set with a pair of kills to stake IC to a 2-0 lead, but Wheaton answered back by winning eight of the next nine points to switch sides with an 8-3 advantage. A three-point run from the Lady Blues got them back to within three at 13-10, but a pair of late attack errors ended the match and handed the Thunder the win.
Brenna Dameris ended with a team-high 16 kills, ending one dig short of a double-double with nine.
Maddie Ramsey had 14 kills on the day and both Pankey and Shields supplied 12 apiece. Ganley posted a double-double with 53 assists and 15 digs, while Brandis had a team-best 21 digs.
Non-conference play continues for the Lady Blues with a road match at Fontbonne University on Sept. 20 starting at 7 p.m.
