Galesburg, IL – The Prairie Fire couldn’t build on the momentum of a win in set two against Beloit College in the Buccaneers’ 3-1 Midwest Conference victory on Friday night.

Beloit (4-22, 1-8 MWC) took the first set 25-18 before Knox bounced back to win the next set 25-22.  The teams traded the lead in the third set before the Fire gained the upper hand with a 23-21 lead.  The Bucs, however, scored four consecutive points on three errors and a service ace to win the set and go up 2-1 in the match.

Beloit built a 16-11 lead in the fourth set against Knox (2-28, 0-9 MWC).  The Prairie Fire scored three of the next four points to trim the deficit to 17-14.  The Buccaneers responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points to win the set 25-16, and the match.

Beloit and Knox split their two matches during the regular season.  The Prairie Fire defeated the Buccaneers 3-1 on September 14 at the Alverno Classic Tournament in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  The win is Beloit’s second in the last three matches.

Knox junior Kaylie Prince (Westminster, CO, Standley Lake) had a double-double with a match-high 14 kills and 14 digs.  Senior Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) added 13 digs, six kills, and four assists.  Junior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) also reached double-figures in digs with 12 to go along with five kills and two aces.   First-year Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield) had 32 assists and 11 digs.

The Prairie Fire concludes the 2012 season Saturday afternoon against Lake Forest College.  The Foresters (16-9, 6-3 MWC) and Monmouth College are tied for third place in the Midwest Conference with one match to play.  They are seeking the final two spots in the Midwest Conference Tournament.

Cornell College and St. Norbert College, both undefeated in league play ahead of Saturday’s match against each other on the Rams’ home court, both have earned berths in the four-team tournament.

The match between Knox and Lake Forest begins at 1:00 p.m.  The match will be streamed live on the Web at 12:55 p.m. at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#

McDonald and her parents will be recognized before the match against the Foresters as part of Senior and Parents Day.  McDonald, a co-captain for the Prairie Fire, is the only senior on this year’s team.

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