Rock Island, IL – The Prairie Fire lost its first three matches of the 2012 season on September 1 at the Augustana College Viking Classic.  Knox played three strong teams, which combined to go 9-3 against the field.

Coe College

Box score

The Prairie Fire played Coe to begin the season and lost 3-0.  The Kohawks went 3-1 in the tournament, along with Augustana College, Loras College, and Greenville College.  Coe defeated Knox 25-15 in the first set, 25-13 in the second, and then completed the sweep with a 25-9 win in the third.  Coe’s only loss in the tournament was a 3-1 setback against Greenville College.  Junior hitter Kaylie Prince (Westminster, CO, Standley Lake) led Knox with six kills and added six digs.  First-year setter Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield) paced the team with eight assists and 14 digs.

Augustana College

Box score

Augie tallied 37 kills and downed the Prairie Fire 3-0.  The Vikings won the match 25-12, 25-19, and 25-11.  Senior hitter Kristin McDonald (Chicago, IL, Regina Dominican) led Knox with four kills.  Stachelski had a team-high 10 assists and five digs for Knox.  Junior hitter Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) added five digs against Augustana, which lost its only match of the tournament 3-0 against Loras College.

Greenville College

Box score

The Prairie Fire put up a fight but could not hold off a solid Greenville team, which posted a 3-0 victory.  The Panthers won the first set 25-10 and the second 25-11.  Knox stayed with Greenville the entire third set before the Panthers put together a run and closed it out  25-22. 

Prince had seven kills and seven digs and Stachelski contributed a season-high 18 assists to go along with six digs for the Prairie Fire.  Sophomore hitter Becky Duffy (Chicago, IL, Northside Prep) added five kills and six digs.

The Panthers only loss was 3-2 against Augustana.

The Prairie Fire looks to regroup with a pair of matches on September 4 at Iowa Wesleyan College.  Knox plays host Iowa Wesleyan and Hannibal LaGrange University.

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