GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire earned a 3-2 Midwest Conference win against Beloit College in front of an energetic crowd at Memorial Gym Friday night during Homecoming week.
Knox started strong by taking the first set 25-15. Trailing 10-7, the Prairie Fire rolled off eight straight points with sophomore
Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) serving for a 15-10 lead. The Buccaneers scored the next two points before Knox used a 10-3 surge to grab a 1-0 lead in the match. The Prairie Fire had 14 kills in the set and posted a hitting percentage of .357.
Rose GriffinThe Prairie Fire began the second set by scoring five of the first eight points. Beloit (1-16, 0-4 MWC) responded with a 7-1 run to grab a four point advantage, 10-6. Knox came back to tie the game, 11-11, but the Bucs essentially put it away by scoring eight of the next nine points to go up 19-12. The Prairie Fire managed to close the gap to 20-15, but it wasn't enough as Beloit won 25-15 and tied the match, 1-1.
Knox (3-20, 1-3 MWC) bounced back in the third set, racing out to a 12-4 advantage that included seven straight points beginning with a kill by junior
Jamie Blue (Urbana, IL, University), who then served six more unanswered points. Beloit got as close as 16-11, but back-to-back kills by Blue and first-year
Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) – two of 17 in the game by Knox -- extended the lead to seven and the Bucs never seriously threated again as the Prairie Fire went up 2-1 in the match with a 25-15 set victory.
Beloit refused to be put away in the next set. The Buccaneers held a slim 9-8 lead, and then scored 10 of the next 13 points for a 19-11 advantage. The Prairie Fire drew as close as 22-18 on a kill by junior
Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central), but Beloit scored three of the next four points to take the set 25-19 and even the match, 2-2.
Knox would not be denied in the fifth set. After the Bucs took an early 2-1 lead, the Prairie Fire got on a roll with Griffin serving and built a nine point cushion, 13-4. Beloit scored on a kill to stay alive, but a service error by the Bucs and an ace by Blue provided the last two points Knox needed to win the tiebreaker 15-5 and the match 3-2.
The Prairie Fire had three players with double-digit kills, led by Griffin with 20. First-year
Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis) and Blue added 11 kills apiece for Knox. Stachelski also had a big night with seven kills, 40 assists, and 10 digs. Griffin and Guthals also had 18 digs apiece, Griffin led the way with four aces and she tied sophomore
Nicole Heckman (Chicago, IL, Chicago Latin) for team-high honors with two blocks. Heckman also contributed six kills. Bieber led all players with 29 digs.
Knox will try for a second straight conference win during a Homecoming match at Memorial Gym on Saturday at 11:30 a.m. against Lake Forest College. The Foresters (9-11, 3-0 MWC) outlasted Monmouth College 3-2 on Friday night in Monmouth for their fifth straight victory.
Â
