SPRINGFIELD, IL – The University of Illinois Springfield (UIS) volleyball team cruised to a 25-9, 25-20, 25-19 victory over Drury University during Friday's Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) matchup.
 
"We came in with a great mindset," UIS outside hitter Jailyn Borum said. "We got an early lead and kept pushing."
 
"We fought really hard," UIS setter Tiffany Wentworth added. "We came in with a game plan and executed it. We had all-around great play. We were getting passes, I was getting the sets and hitters were putting the ball away. We made sure to put the ball where Drury wasn't."
 
The Prairie Stars (14-8, 6-4) controlled the momentum of the match by topping the Panthers (17-7, 6-5) 25-9 in Set 1.
 
"It was definitely a win that really wanted and we prepared well for it," UIS coach Trey Salinas stated.
 
UIS compiled a hitting percentage of .333 in Set 1 and held Drury to a -.194 attack percentage during the set.
 
"We had a good game strategy and the girls bought into it. They did a wonderful job of implementing that strategy, so I'm happy."
 
Drury held an 11-9 lead in the second set. The Prairie Stars scored five points in a row and led the remainder of the set.
 
Drury started out with a 5-3 advantage in the third set. UIS tallied five points in a row to go ahead 8-5. The Panthers scored the next three points to even the score at 8-all. UIS responded with a 7-1 run and lead for the remainder of the set.
 
"Drury is a great team, but we were the better team [on Friday]," Wentworth acknowledged.
 
Borum led the Prairie Stars with 12 kills. The sophomore from Sterling, IL finished the match with a .370 hitting percentage, following a 12-kill-2-error performance. Brianna Bush smashed seven kills and Alli Splitt contributed six kills, zero attack errors and a .333 attack percentage.
 
Wentworth dished out 27 assists. Alyssa Hasler tallied four block assists while Bush, Borum and Splitt each added three block assists. Taylor Bauer turned in two block assists. Wentworth, Kenzie Hendon and Courtney Schutt delivered two service aces apiece. Borum, Hendon and Schutt each collected 10 digs.

UIS put together a .270 attack percentage and Drury was limited to a .000 hitting percentage.
 
The Prairie Stars rebounded after being swept by Drury last year. UIS captured its first win over Drury in program history. The Prairie Stars moved up to sixth place in the GLVC standings following the win.
 
"This win means a lot. Drury has beaten some good teams within the conference and hopefully we'll gain some more respect with this win."
 
"It went well for us and I'm excited to play like this [on Saturday]," Borum commented.
 
UIS closes out the GLVC weekend by hosting Missouri S&T (8-15, 1-9) on Saturday at 3 p.m. in TRAC.
 
"There is never a dull moment in our conference," Salinas said. "Every match, we have to be on our toes ready to compete at the highest level. Missouri S&T has a lot of conference with three big wins in the Midwest Region Crossover. We prepared for Missouri S&T the exact same way that we prepared for Drury, so hopefully we can execute our game plan and march forward in conference."
 
PRAIRIE STAR NOTES
Among UIS Division II leaders, Splitt moved to third in career total blocks (150), third in career block assists (134) and fifth in career points (588). Borum advanced to fifth in career digs (541) and seventh in single-season digs (301). Wentworth ranks fifth in single-season assists (574), and Ally Vicsik ranks ninth in career digs (482). Schutt is tied for seventh in career aces (40) and tied for 10th in career digs (480).