Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Monmouth, IL – The Prairie Fire earned their first win of the season at the Monmouth College Invitational on Saturday.

Knox defeated Robert Morris University of Springfield 3-1.  The Prairie Fire lost the first set 19-25, but responded nicely with three straight set wins -- 25-11, 25-16, and 25-20 – to secure the match victory.

First-year Lauren Metcalf (Corona, CA, Centennial) led the way for the Prairie Fire with 10 kills while senior Kaylie Prince (Westminster, CO, Standley Lake) followed with nine kills and five digs.  First-year Nicole Heckman (Chicago, IL, Chicago Latin) added eight kills and junior Katie White (Peoria, IL, Peoria Notre Dame) contributed five kills and four digs.  She also rolled off a string of serves that resulted in points and momentum for Knox.

The Prairie Fire gave RMU trouble with serves in general as the Knox tallied seven aces.

(The tournament did not receive statistics from Robert Morris, so the box score for the match against Knox lacks RMU's stats)

The Fire (1-1) finished with a split in the tournament after dropping a 3-0 decision in the season-opening match against Lincoln Christian College.

Knox stayed close before losing the first set 25-21.  LCU took the next two by identical 25-14 scores.

Sophomore Alexis Cameron (Westchester, IL, Timothy Christian), playing libero in every set for Knox during the tournament, had a team-high 12 digs.

Prince paced Knox with eight kills.  First-year Madison Pierro (La Jolla, CA, Tri City Christian School) added 11 assists and 11 digs.

Metcalf was one of five players named to the Monmouth College Invitational All-Tournament team.  The others were Mollie Murdock of Monmouth, Emma Donnelley of Lincoln Christian, Traci Osby of Robert Morris, and Dakota Flesner of Iowa Wesleyan.

The Prairie Fire will play two tough teams, back-to-back, on September 4 in the Augustana Triangular.  Knox meets Augustana College on the Vikings' home floor at 4:00 p.m. before squaring off against Coe College at 6:00 p.m.

Augie is coming off of a 20-win season in 2012. Coe, also the winner of 20 matches a year ago (6-1 against Iowa Conference foes) is off to a 2-2 start after playing in the Elmhurst College Tournament on August 30-31 and toppling Wisconsin Lutheran College and Adrian College.

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