The Prairie Fire lost a pair of matches Saturday in the Augustana College Viking Invitational in Rock Island, Illinois.

Knox met Cornell College first.  The Rams won the match 3-0: 25-13, 25-14 and 25-21.  Cornell improved to 3-0 on the season with the win.

Sophomore Kaylie Prince (Westminster, Colorado) and junior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, Illinois) had four kills apiece for the Prairie Fire while Prince also contributed seven digs.  Senior Kelly Ricketts (Galesburg, Illinois) also had seven digs.  Junior Brittany Wisniewski (Park Ridge, Illinois) recorded a match-high 16 digs and senior Lisa Blagg (Winthrop Harbor, Illinois) led Knox with 11 assists.

Augustana also downed the Fire 3-0.  The Vikings (2-3) won the first game 25-16, followed by a 25-15 victory.  Augie held off Knox (0-3) in the third game 25-21 to earn the match victory.

Ricketts led the Prairie Fire with 10 kills and added six digs against the Vikings.  Prince had five kills and a team-high 10 digs.  McDonald contributed three kills and eight digs and Wisniewski had seven digs.  Blagg paced Knox with 14 assists.

The Fire plays in the University of Dubuque Triangular on September 7 in Dubuque, Iowa.  Knox takes on the host school at 4:30 p.m. followed by a match against Edgewood College at 6:30 p.m.