Box Score

Beloit, WI – The Prairie Fire played virtually neck-and-neck with Beloit College, but the Buccaneers came away with a 3-0 Midwest Conference win on Saturday.

Knox (3-15, 1-3 MWC) and Beloit played through seven ties in the first set, the last time at 9-9, before the Prairie Fire gained a little breathing room by scoring six of the next eight points – including a kill by first-year Lauren Metcalf (Corona, CA, Centennial) and three points on serves by senior Amber Eisha (South Wilmington, IL, Gardner-South Wilmington) -- for a 15-11 lead.

The Bucs answered with six straight points to go up 17-15.  Knox closed the gap to one as late as 23-22 on a kill by junior Katie White (Peoria, IL, Peoria Notre Dame), but Beloit scored the last two points to win the first set 25-22.

The Prairie Fire scored six of the first nine points in the second set, followed by a 4-1 run by Beloit to force a 7-7 tie.  Knox regained the lead at 8-7 on a service error by the Bucs.  A 3-1 spurt gave Beloit the advantage at 10-9, a lead the Buccaneers would never surrender in another close set that the hosts ultimately won 25-22.

The third set was also tight, never separated by more than three points until Beloit extended a 13-10 lead to 16-10.  The Prairie Fire fought back and trimmed the deficit to 19-16, but the Bucs answered with a 6-2 run to win the set 25-18 and the match.

Beloit (5-9, 1-1 MWC) won its first conference match of the season after dropping its league opener 3-0 against Monmouth College on Friday at home.

Senior Kaylie Prince (Westminster, CO, Standley Lake) led Knox with 13 kills to go along with two service aces and eight digs.  Sophomore Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) added 27 assists, eight digs, and two kills.  Metcalf was next behind Prince with six kills and two block assists, and Eisha had four kills, seven digs, and three service aces.

Knox will try to put stop a four-match slide when Iowa Wesleyan College visits Memorial Gym on October 8.

The non-conference contest between the Prairie Fire and the Tigers (7-15) begins at 7:00 and will be streamed live online at http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/knox.portal#/

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