Illinois Springfield (7-16, 1-8 GLVC) lost to Quincy (17-8, 4-5 GLVC) 3-0 on Saturday afternoon. The Prairie Stars cut an 11-point third-set deficit to two before Quincy completed the match, winning 25-17, 26-24, 25-22.
After falling behind 5-3, the Prairie Stars scored four straight points on
Khadijah Blue's serve, with back-to-back kills by
Alyssa Gray, a block by
Maddie Mendelblatt and
Alexis Schwartz, and Blue's ace moving Illinois Springfield ahead 7-5. Quincy responded with five straight points to turn a 9-7 Prairie Stars lead into a 12-9 deficit, and Illinois Springfield could not close the gap. Quincy scored the final five points of the set to take it 25-17.
The Prairie Stars erased an 18-12 deficit in the second set, with Blue's kill starting a six-point push and
Marley Christy serving the next five points to pull even at 18-18. Illinois Springfield later moved in front 22-21 and held set point at 24-23 on a Schwartz kill. Quincy answered with the final three points, leaving the Prairie Stars with a 26-24 set loss.
Illinois Springfield answered a 20-9 deficit with a late push, using Gray's serving and three
Kendall Johnson kills to get back to 20-15. The Prairie Stars kept chipping away and pulled within 24-22 on a block by Gray and
Avery Gonzalez, but Quincy took the next point to finish the set 25-22.
Gray posted team highs with four service aces and 11.5 points, adding six kills, six digs and three block assists. Blue recorded five total blocks and added six kills and two aces. Johnson led Illinois Springfield with eight kills and collected six digs. Christy finished with 10 assists, three kills, four digs and one ace.
Up next, the Prairie Stars travel to Kirksville, Mo., to face Truman State on Thursday, Oct. 29 at 6 p.m.
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