EAST PEORIA, IL --- The Prairie Stars (22-10) edged the Bellarmine Knights (23-8) in the quarterfinals of the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship, with a five-set victory in thrilling fashion. The Prairie Stars, competing in their first GLVC Championship, fell in the opening set 25-23 but took the next two by scores of 25-23 and 25-21. After getting edged in the fourth set 32-30, UIS came back strong with a 15-7 win in the fifth set to take the match.

"This was a gritty match from start to finish," said head coach Trey Salinas. "The girls made great adjustments from set-to-set and executed our game plan really well."

These two teams met in Springfield on September 29^th, where the Prairie Stars fell in three sets, two of which came down to the wire. This time around, Bellarmine was on the receiving end of the close loss, as UIS advances to their first ever GLVC semi-final.

UIS attacked at a .219 clip on the match, totaling 67 kills, tying their second highest mark of the season, behind only a 72 kill performance against Grand Valley State. Of those 67 kills, Taylor Bauer led the way with an 18 kill night --- with three aces as well --- while Jailyn Borum had 17 and Alyssa Hasler 15. Hasler, an All-GLVC First-Team selection, had 15 kills against just one error and totaled 10 block assists on the night.

Tiffany Wentworth had 56 total assists, just three shy of the all-time UIS record, which she set earlier this season. Wentworth also added three kills, two aces, six block assists, and 15 digs. Courtney Schutt totaled 26 digs on the night and added an ace and four assists.

After avoiding set point three times in the first set, UIS ultimately fell 25-23. In the second set though, UIS used a 5-0 run to take an 8-4 lead and then scored seven of 10 points to keep that advantage at 17-13. From there, the two teams traded runs before UIS closed it out 25-23.

In the third, UIS jumped out early, take a 5-1 lead, but the Knights came back with seven of nine points to take an 8-7 advantage. As was the theme all night, the two teams traded blows before a 5-0 run from the Prairie Stars pushed the lead to 20-15, giving them a cushion to take the third set 25-21.

In what became the most epic, and memorable set of the season, UIS fell down 5-1 early and trailed 13-10 at the halfway mark of the fourth set. A 6-1 run gave UIS a 17-15 lead but the Knights fought back and tied the score at 23. A service error gave UIS their first set points but Bellarmine responded with two straight to get their first set point.

The Prairie Stars had four set points in total but Bellarmine fought off each one and ultimately took the set 32-30 to keep their hopes alive.

The fifth and final set started just as the previous four, with both teams within reach. UIS took an 8-5 lead before consecutive points from the Knights made the score 8-7. However, from there on out, it was all UIS, as the Prairie Stars scored the final seven points of the match to win 15-7 and advance to the semi-finals.

"Bellarmine made great adjustments and did a great job to break us down defensively but our strong serves and ability to keep them out of system made the difference for us along with some great serve receive."

UIS will move on to face the winner of top seeded Lewis University and eight-seed Indianapolis. The match will begin at 5:30 CST with live stats and GLVCSN available.