UIS Volleyball opened play at Missouri Western's Griffon Invitational on Friday, playing two of its three tournament matches in St. Joseph, Mo. The Prairie Stars faced Central Missouri in the afternoon before taking on No. 10 Missouri Western later in the evening. UIS fell in both matches and now holds a 2-7 overall record, with one match remaining on Saturday.
Illinois Springfield fell to Central Missouri 3-0, with set scores of 17-25, 14-25, and 13-25.
The opening set saw UISÂ fall behind early as Central Missouri surged to an 8-2 lead, despite efforts from
Makenna Cox and
Kaitlyn Taylor. A late rally from the Prairie Stars, including a kill from
Maddie Mendelblatt and two kills from Cox, brought the score to 20-15, but they could not overcome the deficit as Central Missouri closed the set 25-17.
In the second set, the Prairie Stars kept it close initially, but Central Missouri stretched its lead to 10 points mid-set. Kills by Cox, who led the offense with four kills in the set, and
Madi Siefken during a three-point stretch brought the score to 17-9, but Central Missouri finished the set 25-14.
The third set started with Illinois Springfield down 4-3 before Central Missouri scored nine consecutive points to take a commanding 13-3 lead. Despite an ace from Siefken and contributions from
Kendall Johnson,
Maddie Mendelblatt, and
Makenna Cox, the Prairie Stars could not close the gap, and Central Missouri took the set 25-13.
Makenna Cox led UIS with 10 kills and eight digs.
Madi Siefken contributed 20 assists, eight digs, and a service ace, while
Maddie Mendelblatt recorded six kills with a hitting percentage of .357, alongside a service ace and a solo block.
Emma Frazier led the team in digs with nine.
The following match saw UIS take on No. 10 Missouri Western, with the Griffons earning a 3-0 victory by set scores of 25-14, 25-16, and 25-17. The Prairie Stars recorded 28 kills, while Missouri Western finished with 42 kills and a .265 hitting percentage.
In the first set, UIS fell behind 2-0 before rallying with kills from
Kendall Johnson and
Alyssa Gray to take a 3-2 lead. The teams remained close early, with the score tied at 7-7 before Missouri Western began to create separation. The Griffons went on to take the opening set 25-14.
The Prairie Stars again battled through the early stages of the second set, overcoming a 5-2 deficit to briefly take a 7-6 lead following a kill from Gray set up by
Madi Siefken. Missouri Western answered with a strong stretch late in the set, taking the second 25-16.
Illinois Springfield stayed within reach in the third set, tying the score at 11-11 behind four early kills from Johnson, including one assisted by
Emma Frazier. The Prairie Stars continued to push late, including a final kill from
Makenna Cox, but Missouri Western closed out the set 25-17 to complete the match.
Kendall Johnson led the Stars with nine kills and 11 total points.
Madi Siefken recorded 24 assists and 10 digs, while
Makenna Cox and
Alyssa Gray each contributed seven kills and 14 digs.
Up next, UIS will take on Arkansas Tech on Saturday at 2:30 p.m.
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