The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team opened play on Friday at the UIndy Invitational in Indianapolis, Ind. The Prairie Stars swept Gannon in the opener, before falling to undefeated Saginaw Valley State in the second match of the day.

UIS opened up the UIndy event with a 25-21, 25-23, and 25-21 sweep over Gannon, a team that advanced to the second round of last year's NCAA Tournament. The Prairie Stars held Gannon to just a .059 hitting percentage in the match. UIS had six more kills, nine more digs, and two more blocks.
 
Alli Splitt led the Prairie Stars with 10 kills and four blocks. Hannah Nicolaisen also had 10 kills. Becca Blakeley added 29 assists, and Rachel Cobert had a team-high 20 digs. Blakeley and Jailyn Borum also had double-figure dig totals in the match.
 
In the evening contest, UIS fell to Saginaw Valley, which improved to 6-0 on the year. The scores were 25-20, 28-26, 25-19. Saginaw Valley had 10 more kills in the match, and hit over .300.
 
Splitt led the offense again with 12 kills and a .476 hitting percentage. Cobert finished with nine kills. Borum led the team with 15 digs, and Blakeley had 36 assists. Megan Krasowski led the team with four blocks.
  
UIS is now 3-3 on the season. The Prairie Stars conclude play tomorrow at the UIndy Invitational with matches against Davenport and Minnesota State Moorhead.