Ripon College held off the Prairie Fire's bid for a win on the road by getting off to a strong start and winning the Midwest Conference match in four games.

The Red Hawks (13-16, 4-3 MWC) won the first two games 25-14, 25-21.  Knox needed a win in the third game and got one, 25-22.  However, Ripon closed out the match 3-1 with a 25-18 victory in the fourth game.

Knox junior Kelly Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois) had another big match with 16 kills, 12 digs and one block.  Kaylie Prince (Westminster, Colorado) also reached double-figure kills.  The first-year hitter had 13 to go along with seven digs.  Another first-year player, setter Nina Mack (Algonquin, Illinois), contributed 34 assists and nine digs.  Sophomore Kristin McDonald (Chicago, Illinois) led the Fire with 14 digs while junior libero Lisa Blagg (Winthrop Harbor, Illinois) had 12 digs, three assists and three aces.

Knox College (5-18, 0-9 MWC) tallied 40 kills, 56 digs and eight aces in the match against Ripon, which won its second straight league contest at home.

Ripon's Anna Alvin had a match-high 21 kills to go along with eight digs and two aces.  Karlye Wehner added 10 kills and 16 digs and setter Alison Ernst recorded 44 assists and 18 digs.  Ashley Kirst led everyone with 21 digs.

The match was the Midwest Conference finale for the Prairie Fire, which wraps up the season with three matches October 29 and 30 in the Howlin' with the Wolves Invite at Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Knox meets Cardinal Stritch University October 29 at 7:00 p.m.  The Prairie Fire plays two matches on October 30.  The first one is against Clarke College at 10:30 a.m. then the finale at 3:30 p.m. against Benedictine University - Springfield.