UIS Volleyball (7-18, 1-10 GLVC) lost to Upper Iowa (13-11, 6-6 GLVC) 3-2 on Saturday. The Prairie Stars won the first and third sets 25-19 and 25-20, but Upper Iowa took the second, fourth and fifth sets 25-23, 25-11 and 15-11. The match was Illinois Springfield's final road contest of the season.
UIS scored the final five points of the first set after Upper Iowa closed within 20-19, finishing off a 25-19 win.
Emma Frazier served the final four points, a stretch that included a
Khadijah Blue kill and set point on a Blue-
Alyssa Gray block. Earlier,
Marley Christy served four straight Prairie Stars points to move the set from 11-8 to 15-8, with Blue recording two kills in that stretch.
The Prairie Stars spent the second set trying to climb out of an early 12-3 hole, cutting the deficit to 19-17 with help from a Blue kill and a
Kendall Johnson kill. The Stars made another late push from 24-20 to 24-23, with Blue recording a block and a kill and Gray adding a kill. The Peacocks took the next point to close the set, 25-23.
UIS seven of the final eight rallies in the third set, moving from a 19-18 deficit to a 25-20 win. Blue tied it at 19-19, and Gray followed with three late kills and the set-ending service ace as Illinois Springfield scored the final four points.
UIS reached a 6-6 tie in the fourth set on an Upper Iowa attack error, but UIU answered with eight straight points to move ahead 14-6. Gray had three kills in the set and Blue added two, including one that ended the run. Upper Iowa scored the final four points to take the set 25-11.Â
The Prairie Stars answered an early Upper Iowa surge in the fifth set, trimming a 7-2 deficit to 8-6 behind kills from Johnson,
Maddie Mendelblatt and Blue, plus an Upper Iowa attack error. Blue later added a kill from Christy to bring Illinois Springfield within 9-8, but the Peacocks responded with the next two points and went on to take the set 15-11.
Blue recorded 17 kills while hitting .438 and added eight total blocks for 22 points. Gray finished with 13 kills, nine digs and 15.5 points. Christy posted 29 assists and 12 digs. Frazier collected 16 digs and added two service aces.
"While the result isn't what we wanted, the team played really well on the attack and block today," said head coach
Laura Ulrich. "We are making progress in the right areas, and the growth has been awesome to watch. We're looking forward to competing in our home gym this coming weekend!"
UIS hosts Missouri S&T at 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, at TRAC.
