Monmouth, IL – The Prairie Fire, trying to earn its first conference win and make it more difficult for Monmouth College to make the MWC Tournament, came up short against the Fighting Scots on Tuesday.

The Prairie Fire (2-27, 0-8 MWC) lost 3-1 at Monmouth’s Glennie Gym.  The Fighting Scots (18-9, 6-2 MWC), who entered the match tied with Lake Forest College for third place in the Midwest Conference, won the first two sets 25-13 and 25-15.  Knox took the third set 25-20 before the hosts won the match with a 25-12 set four victory.  The win was the second straight, and fifth in the last six matches, for Monmouth.

The Prairie Fire received solid contributions from several players.  Sophomore Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) had a season-high 11 kills to go along with eight digs.  Junior Kaylie Prince (Westminster, CO, Standley Lake) matched White for team-high honors with 11 kills and also had eight digs.  Senior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) added seven kills, 11 digs, an ace, and one block, junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) served up five aces and also had nine digs, while first-year Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield) finished with 25 assists.

Chelsey Widdop led Monmouth with 14 kills and 12 digs.

The win is the second this season by the Scots against Knox.  The teams played a non-conference match on October 5 at the Bears Classic Tournament hosted by Washington University in St. Louis.  Monmouth defeated the Prairie Fire 3-0: 25-17, 25-17, 25-14.

Preseason favorite Cornell College (16-10, 8-0 MWC) and St. Norbert College (21-7, 7-0 MWC) have clinched spots in the MWC Tournament.  They’ll play each other for what will likely be the regular season conference title on Saturday afternoon. 

Monmouth and Lake Forest (15-8, 5-2 MWC) are trying to earn the final two spots in the four-team conference tournament on November 2 and 3. 

Knox meets the Foresters in the season finale at Memorial Gymnasium on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.  The Prairie Fire and Beloit College (3-22, 0-8 MWC) square off on Friday night at 7:00. 

The matches against the Buccaneers and Lake Forest will be streamed live on the Web at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#

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