SPRINGFIELD, IL --- The Prairie Stars (7-14) picked up their second consecutive victory with a four-set win over Division III opponent Greenville (18-6). Illinois Springfield took the first set before falling in the second. This set the Prairie Stars up for wins in the third and fourth to claim the non-conference win.
In the opening set, UIS jumped out to an 8-1 lead and then saw that lead grow to 11-3 as
Emma Burkle picked up her first kill of the night. This forced Greenville into their first timeout and after the pause in play, the Panthers came out and rallied for six straight points and seven of the next eight to get right back into the match.
The set became tied at 15 and then again at 18 but UIS never surrendered the lead. The Prairie Stars rallied to score the final seven points of the set to win 25-15.
Alyssa Hasler recorded seven kills in the opening set to lead UIS.
In the second set, UIS recorded ten consecutive unforced errors, including five on the serve to spot Greenville a 12-7 lead. However, UIS rallied to cut the deficit to just 15-14 but couldn't overcome the early errors and dropped the second 25-22.
After the ten minute break, UIS came out in the third and scored seven straight points to begin the set and cruised to a 25-20 victory.
The final set was a back-and-forth match and became tied at 11 before UIS took their final lead of the night.
Ashley Beaton gave UIS the lead at 12-11 and the Prairie Stars never looked back. UIS took the final set 25-18 to complete the win.
Beaton had her most dominating performance of the night, recording her second highest kill total of the season with nine, but committed no errors on 14 attacks, giving her a .643 attack percentage on the night.
Alli Splitt and Hasler each had 12 kills on the night. Splitt committed just one error on 24 swings while Hasler added three solo blocks and four block assists on the night.
Lexi Hall had a team-high 29 assists while
Tiffany Wentworth added 21 and
Kayla Katarzynski added 15 digs.
UIS will get back to their GLVC schedule on Friday as they travel to Wisconsin-Parkside before taking on Lewis on Saturday.
