GALESBURG, Illinois – The Prairie Fire dug a hole against Carroll University and couldn't climb out in a 3-0 Midwest Conference loss Friday night at Memorial Gym.

The Pioneers raced out to a 10-2 lead in the first set and held off a rally by Knox to win it 25-18.  The Prairie Fire cut the deficit to 14-13 on four straight service points by junior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central).  Carroll scored four consecutive points before Knox closed to within two, 19-17.  The Pioneers scored six of the next seven points to close the game out.

The Prairie Fire started strong in the second set, which began with back-to-back kills by first-year Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) for the early lead.  Knox (3-23, 1-6 MWC) maintained a 9-7 advantage when Carroll went on a 9-0 run to build a seven point cushion and never looked back, winning 23-17.

The Prairie Fire led the Pioneers (8-16, 4-2 MWC) by as many as six points, 12-6, after scoring five straight points – four on serves by junior Jamie Blue (Urbana, IL, University) – in the third set.  Carroll used its own five point run to cut the deficit to 12-11.  Knox broke up the run with a kill by first-year Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis), but the Pioneers put up seven of the next nine points for an 18-15 lead.  The Prairie Fire fought back and tied the set at 19, 20, and 23-all before Carroll scored the last two points to hang on to take the set 25-23, and the match 3-0.

Griffin, who entered this weekend as the Midwest Conference leader in total kills, had 15 and 10 digs for Knox.  Guthals added seven kills and a team-high 14 digs, Stachelski recorded 24 assists and nine digs, sophomore Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) contributed 11 digs and seven assists, and senior Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) put down five kills for the Prairie Fire.

Dana Votolina led Carroll with 15 kills and teammate Taylor Kuehl had 34 assists.

Knox plays its home finale on Saturday against Ripon College (14-9, 4-2 MWC) at 1:00 p.m.  White, the Prairie Fire's lone senior, will be recognized before the match.
The Red Hawks won at Monmouth College 3-0 (25-17, 25-16, 25-11) Friday night.