SPRINGFIELD, IL - The Prairie Stars rallied to win the third set, 27-25, but ran out of steam late as the McKendree Bearcats defeated the University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team, 3-1, Tuesday evening at the Recreation and Athletic Center.

The Basics
The Result: MCK 3-1 (25-17, 25-12, 25-27, 25-11)
Records: MCK (20-9, 14-2 GLVC), UIS (5-24, 2-14 GLVC)
Location: Springfield, Ill. - Recreation and Athletic Center

UIS Top Performers

• Junior Ashley Beaton (Wildwood, Mo.): finished with a team-high 12 kills on 39 attempts. Also added a service ace and five digs.
• Junior Kayla Katarzynski (Winfield, Ill.): collected a team-high 17 digs
• The setters: freshman Tiffany Wentworth (Omaha, Neb.) and sophomore Lexi Hall (Champaign, Ill.) each dished out 15 assists. Wentworth also finished with eight digs.

How It Happened

• The Prairie Stars took an early lead in the first behind some hot hitting. The hosts turned in four kills and an ace to take a 5-2 lead over the Bearcats. With the score in favor of UIS, 6-3, the visitors took control of the set with a 7-1 run to grab a 10-7 advantage. UIS cut the deficit to just one after a kill by senior Heather Smack (St. Louis, Mo.) and an ace from Beaton. McKendree used another run to extend its lead, this time a 7-2 spurt that put the visitors ahead, 17-11. The Bearcats won the first set, 25-17.
• The Prairie Stars were in danger of falling out of the second set after McKendree opened the stanza on a 5-1 run. But UIS fought back with a 6-1 run capped off by a Tiffany Wentworth ace to take the lead, 7-6. The Prairie Stars struggled to score in the remainder of the set as the hosts posted a hitting percentage of -.216. McKendree captured the second set, 25-12.
• The third set was a back-and-forth affair from the get-go. UIS held leads of 4-2 and 5-3 early on and then pushed its advantage to 13-10. McKendree came right back with four straight points to erase the deficit. A kill from Hannah Wessel late in the set gave the visitors a 22-19 lead and the match looked all but over. After a timeout, the Prairie Stars got their act together and started hitting, rattling off consecutive kills and scoring four straight points to take back the lead, 23-22.
• McKendree fought back to earn a pair of match points at 24-23 and 25-24 but UIS would not give in. The Prairie Stars scored the final three points of the set to win the third, 27-25.
• With all the momentum going for the Prairie Stars, the hosts quickly jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the fourth set behind three errors by McKendree. The visitors came back and eventually took an 8-6 lead after a kill from UIS freshman Emma Burkle (Crystal Lake, Ill.). The Prairie Stars fell into another slump and struggled to score in the remainder of the set. The Bearcats went on a 17-5 run to win the set and the match as UIS hit -.161 in the final set.

Coming Up Next

• The Prairie Stars hit the road for the final time this season, traveling to Southern Indiana before finishing the season at Bellarmine this weekend.