The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team had one of its top offensive performances of the season on Thursday afternoon in East Peoria, Ill. which helped the team advance to the GLVC Tournament Semifinals for the second straight season. The Prairie Stars won their opening round match against Bellarmine by scores of 25-13, 19-25, 25-21, and 25-13.
 
UIS finished the match with a .364 hitting percentage, its second-highest of the season. In the three sets that UIS won, the team hit .455 and had a sideout percentage of 83.7 percent. The Prairie Stars held the Knights to just eight points off their serve in sets one, three, and four, while UIS scored 34.
 
Taylor Bauer had a big match offensively with a season-high 21 kills, and a .487 hitting percentage. Rachel Cobert, Brianna Bush, and Alli Splitt all had double-figure kills as well. Tiffany Wentworth had a team-high 50 assists.
 
Defensively, the Prairie Stars outblocked and outdug Bellarmine. Alyssa Hasler and Wentworth both had five blocks to lead the team, and Jailyn Borum was the team leader with 13 digs. Cobert, Jenny Rush, and Megan Krasowski all had nine digs.
 
UIS improves to 25-6 on the season. The Prairie Stars advance to the semifinal round on Friday where they will face Drury at 2:30 p.m.