Illinois Springfield (7-17, 1-9 GLVC) fell to Truman State (12-12, 6-5 GLVC) 3-0 on Thursday at Pershing Arena in Kirksville, Mo. The Prairie Stars were held to 27 kills and a .068 hitting percentage, compared with 36 kills and a .208 percentage for Truman State, in sets of 25-18, 25-13 and 25-17.
Illinois Springfield erased an early 3-0 deficit, using a
Kendall Johnson kill, a
Khadijah Blue service ace and another Johnson kill to take a 15-12 lead. The Prairie Stars maintained a 16-15 advantage before Truman State surged with seven consecutive points to go ahead 22-16. Truman State closed out the set, 25-18, despite a late kill from
Alyssa Gray.
In the second set, the Prairie Stars fell behind early as Truman St. scored six straight points after a 1-1 tie to go up 7-1. Blue and Johnson each had four kills for Illinois Springfield, with Blue also adding a block. Truman kept the margin in place and took the set 25-13.
A 5-0 start by the Bulldogs put UIS in an early hole to open the third set, and the Prairie Stars spent the rest of the set trying to close ground. Gray and Blue helped provide answers at the net, and late points from
Madi Siefken and Gray kept Illinois Springfield moving after the Bulldogs reached match point. Truman State finished the set at 25-17.
Blue led the Prairie Stars with nine kills, hit .389 and added a service ace and a solo block. Johnson finished with eight kills and eight digs. Gray collected a team-high 14 digs, posted five kills and added an ace. Siefken recorded a team-best 10 assists and added two digs.
Emma Frazier had seven digs, bringing her season total to 305.
"Truman State executed a great game plan tonight and forced us into more attacking errors than we would have liked," said Coach Ulrich. "That, combined with our serving struggles, made it hard for us to get momentum going. We're fighting hard on the court but playing cleaner will get us closer to the outcome we're looking for."
Up next, UIS volleyball visits Upper Iowa in Fayette, Iowa, on Saturday at 3 p.m.Â
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