EVANSVILLE, IN - Trailing two sets to one, the University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team dug deep to win the final two sets to defeat Southern Indiana, 3-2 (18-25, 26-24, 21-25, 25-18, 15-12), Friday evening.

It is the first time that the Prairie Stars have defeated the Screaming Eagles in program history. UIS is now 2-5 this season in five-set matches.

"Honestly, the match started really slowly," said head coach Trey Salinas.  "They beat us by quite a few points in the first set but we eventually starting building momentum into the second set and our block really brought us to life ... It was a battle in the final sets and we really grabbed the momentum in the fifth set at 11-11. Nikki Madoch and freshman Emma Burkle had stellar nights for us."

Senior Nikki Madoch (Algonquin, Ill.) led the charge for the Prairie Stars, finishing with a game-high 16 kills and a team-best .467 hitting percentage. Three players posted double-digit kills for the visiting Prairie Stars. Junior Ashley Beaton (Wildwood, Mo.) tallied 11 kills, her second consecutive match with at least 10 kills. Freshman Emma Burkle (Crystal Lake, Ill.) also added 11 kills.

UIS earned its third GLVC win of the season, surpassing its total from a season ago. It was the team's first win since October 16 against Malone. The Prairie Stars finished the match with a .183 hitting percentage.

After dropping the first set, 25-18, the Prairie Stars got going early in the second stanza, scoring seven straight points to take an 8-2 lead. Southern Indiana fought back to close within two, 14-12, but the Prairie Stars responded again with a 5-1 run to make the score 19-13. With the score 20-14 in favor of UIS, the hosts used an 10-4 run to come all the way back to tie the game, 24-24. UIS used back-to-back kills from freshman Alyssa Hasler (South Bend, Ind.) and sophomore Courtney Schutt (Waterloo, Ill.) to win the set and tie the match.

The Screaming Eagles took a close third set, 25-21, to take a 2-1 lead. The Prairie Stars trailed 5-4 when the guests scored three straight points to retake the lead, 7-5. Leading 7-6, the Prairie Stars opened up a 6-0 run that included a pair of service aces from Madoch. Southern Indiana came back to within two multiple times in the set, but the Prairie Stars held on, eventually closing out the set with three straight points to tie the match, 2-2.

Southern Indiana took control of the fifth set early, scoring five of the first seven points. UIS used three errors by the hosts to pull within one, 6-5. The teams traded 3-0 runs and the score was eventually tied, 11-11. The Prairie Stars' freshmen came through in the final moments of the match. Alyssa Hasler and Emma Burkle combined for three straight kills to give UIS a 14-12 match point. An error by the Screaming Eagles gave the Prairie Stars their first win against Southern Indiana in the program's history.

"We are super happy with the performance. It was probably our most unified performance of the season."