The University of Illinois Springfield volleyball team earned a split on Saturday at TRAC in this week's GLVC pod competition. The Prairie Stars fell to Rockhurst in the morning, but bounced back with their best offensive performance of the year in a win over Maryville.
 
In the team's win over Maryville, UIS hit a season-high .422, and had a sideout percentage for the match of 81 percent. Those numbers led the Prairie Stars to a 25-17, 25-18, and 25-18 victory.
 
The duo of Ryleigh Warfel and Kenzie Hendon combined for 21 kills. Warfel had 11 and hit .500 for the match, and Hendon had 10 and a .400 hitting percentage. Hannah Nicolaisen finished with eight kills and Megan Krasowski had six. Becca Blakeley had 27 assists, and Nicolaisen had a pair of aces. Defensively, Hendon and Amanda McConnell each had 11 digs, and Nicolaisen had four blocks.
 
In the opener, UIS fell to Rockhurst by scores of 25-18, 25-17, and 25-21. Rockhurst hit .378 and had 21 more kills than the Prairie Stars.
 
The Prairie Stars had a balanced offense with five players between five and seven kills, led by Nicolaisen with seven. Nicolaisen finished with 11 points after also having three aces and two blocks. Other team leaders were Regan Trueblood with 14 assists, McConnell with 13 digs, and Krasowski and Madeline McGuire with three blocks apiece.
 
UIS moves to 3-10 on the season. The Prairie Stars are in action again next week in the St. Louis Triangular against Missouri-St. Louis and William Jewell.