The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team could not catch up to Cedarville in the fifth set on Friday, as the Prairie Stars dropped their opening match at the Midwest Regional Crossover in Hammond, Ind. The Prairie Stars lost by scores of 25-21, 16-25, 23-25, 25-18, and 15-12.
 
UIS and Cedarville were tied at five in the deciding set when the Yellowjackets scored two straight points. The Prairie Stars got within one point on six separate occasions after that, but they couldn't get a rally going to tie the score. They fell in a fifth set for the third time over the last 10 days.
 
Cedarville hit .272 for the match, and had more total kills, digs, and blocks. UIS hit just under .200, and had 11 service aces in the match.
 
Four Prairie Stars finished with double-figure kills in Angela Denney, Megan Krasowski, Brianna Bush, and Ryleigh Warfel. Bush had a .476 hitting percentage. Becca Blakeley had team-highs of 44 assists and nine digs. Amanda McConnell and Emma Konie also had nine digs apiece. Hannah Nicolaisen led UIS with four service aces.
 
UIS falls to 6-12 on the season. The Prairie Stars will continue play at the crossover event on Saturday with matches against Kentucky Wesleyan and Purdue Northwest.