WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision against Western State before falling, 3-1, to University of Mary on the first day of the Peggy Martin Invitational at Central Missouri.

THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Western State W, 3-0 (25-15, -28, -22); Mary W, 3-1 (26-24, 25-20, 20-25, 25-21)
LOCATION: Warrensburg, Mo. - UCM Multipurpose Building
RECORDS: UIS 0-2, Western State 1-1, Mary 1-1
UP NEXT: UIS faces St. Cloud State at noon before taking on No. 13 Central Missouri at 5 p.m.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Game One

• Western State jumped out to a 4-0 lead to begin the match and never looked back. UIS got as close as three in the opening frame, but could not get past its miscues. The Mountaineers held the Stars to a .154 hitting percentage, while swinging .375.
• The second set featured 11 tie scores and two lead changes, but after trailing 17-16, the Mountaineers went on an 8-0 run to claim the set.
• Junior Ashley Beaton (Wildwood, Mo.) recorded a team-best 10 kills.
• Senior Nikki Madoch (Algonquin, Ill.) had the best hitting percentage (.400) with eight kills on 15 attempts with two errors.
• Freshmen Alyssa Hasler (South Bend, Ind.) and Tiffany Wentworth (Omaha, Neb.) both saw their first collegiate action. Wentworth had a double-double with 11 assists and 11 digs.

Game Two

• Beaton once again tallied double-figure kills with 16. Hasler and Madoch added 10 each, respectively.
• Wentworth recorded 31 assists and 15 digs for her second double-double of the day. Junior Kayla Katarzynski (Winfield, Ill.) dug up 19 balls.
• The Stars hit .333 (14 K, 2 E, 36 TA) in the 25-20 set three victory.

COACH SALINAS' CORNER
"We worked out a few kinks in our first set with our system. I asked the girls to play more aggressive and it showed in sets two and three. The aggressive style led to some higher errors, but we are confident that we will get into a rhythm as the tournament goes on." - Coach Salinas after Western State

"We played a much more consistent mat all the way around. University of Mary was a much stronger team than we saw this morning and we really found our rhythm in set three for the win. We're excited to see how we match up tomorrow after a few adjustments." - Coach Salinas after Univ. of Mary.

FOR THE FOES
For Western State
- Jordan Eatwell had a match-best 11 kills.
- The team hit .209 for the match, including above .300 in the first two sets.
For Mary
- Lauren Randall had a match-high 19 kills and added 11 digs.
- Alex Brown recorded 21 digs.