KEARNEY, NE - The University of Illinois Springfield put together a strong team effort to down Northwest Oklahoma State 3-1 in the final contest of the New Victoria Inn & Suites/ Runza Classic at the Health & Sports Center. The Stars dropped a tough five-set decision to Mary in the first game of the day.
THE BASICS- RESULTS: Mary 3, UIS 2 (24-26, 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 15-9); UIS 3, NWOSU 1 (26-24, 25-21, 15-25, 25-17)
- RECORDS: UIS 2-7; Mary 3-4, NWSOU 2-5
- UP NEXT: Prairie Stars start conference play on the road at Quincy and Truman on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
TOP PRAIRIE STAR PERFORMERS- Freshman Alyssa Hasler (South Bend, Ind.) had a strong outing with 26 kills, 11 total blocks, 10 digs and an ace in the two contests.
- Senior Nikki Madoch (Algonquin, Ill.) posted 26 kills, four aces and nine blocks.
- Freshman setter Tiffany Wentworth (Omaha, Neb.) dished out 83 assists and 21 digs as well as knocking seven balls back at the net for the day.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Game 1- Illinois Springfield grabbed wins in the first two sets and hit above .220 in both frames.
- Mary changed its game plan and the Prairie Stars could not maintain momentum to take back the match.
- UIS gave up 11 points on serving errors.
Game 2- Despite suffering a set back in set three, the Prairie Stars came strong in set four, hitting .333 to pick up their second victory.
- Both teams suffered errors on serves with UIS having 12 and NWOSU putting up 11.
- It was a block party for UIS as they recorded 13.5 on 27 block assists for its highest total of the season.
COACH SALINAS' CORNER"We had a great game plan and executed well in sets one and two. They made some adjustments that we couldn't respond to and pulled away at the end of the game" -
U of Mary"Against NWOSU, our block came in big and shut down their offensive attack with 13.5 team blocks. We battled some serving errors and were forced to make a few adjustments to our serve-receive in the third set, pulling away in the fourth after a great offensive effort." -
Northwest Oklahoma State "Overall our weekend was constructive. Our girls are doing a great job of stepping into different roles to effectively implement our game strategy and in-match adjustments. We still have a lot to accomplish in the gym this week as we prepare for conference.
