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2014 Illinois Wesleyan Volleyball Tournament – September 19 & 20

Saturday, September 20

Lincoln Christian 3
Knox 1
Knox started strong, taking the first match 25-19.  Lincoln Christian evened it up by winning the second set 25-21 to set up a pivotal point in the contest.  The teams played a tight third set that took extra points to decide as the Red Lions (8-6) came away with a 29-27 victory to take a 2-1 lead in the match.  The Prairie Fire (2-16) needed a win in the fourth set to stay alive and force a tiebreaker, but Lincoln Christian held on for a 25-20 decision and a 3-1 match win.  First-year Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) led all players with 14 kills to go with 18 digs, two service aces, and three block assists for Knox.  Senior Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) added nine kills on a hitting percentage of .450 as well as five digs, one solo block, and one block assist.  Junior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) had a match-high 42 assists, first-year Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis) contributed seven kills and 18 digs, sophomore Nicole Heckman (Chicago, IL, Chicago Latin) put down six kills along with two solo blocks and two block assists, and sophomore Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) tallied a team-best 21 digs.  The Prairie Fire square off against Aurora University (11-5) in the final match of the tournament for both squads.  Knox will try to hand the Spartans their first loss against the field.
 
Aurora 3
Knox 0
Knox was unable to avenge a loss to Aurora earlier this season (3-0; 21-25, 16-25, 19-25) in the last match for both teams in the tournament.  Similar to the first meeting between the teams on August 30 at the Augustana Viking Classic, the Prairie Fire (2-17) and the Spartans played close sets but Knox couldn't get over the hump.  Aurora (12-5) took a 1-0 lead with a 25-23 victory in the first set.  The Spartans followed with a 25-15 win in the second set and clinched the match by defeating the Prairie Fire 25-22 in the third set.  Aurora went 4-0 in the tournament and have won nine of their last 10 overall.  First-year Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) had 14 kills for the second straight match and 14 digs for Knox.  First-year Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis) followed with nine kills, nine digs and two block assists, senior Katie White (Peoria, IL, Notre Dame) had four kills and assisted on three blocks, junior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) led everyone with 34 assists, and sophomore Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) recorded a match-high 22 digs.
 
The Illinois Wesleyan Tournament website is available here

The Prairie Fire begin the Midwest Conference portion of their schedule agianst Illinois College at Memorial Gym on Tuesday, September 23 at 7:00 p.m.
 
Friday, September 19

Dominican 3
Knox 0

Knox fell behind at the get-go and couldn't recover in the loss to Dominican in the first tournament match for both teams.  Dominican (7-5) won the first set 25-12.  The Prairie Fire played better in the second set, but the Stars still pulled away with a 25-18 victory for a 2-0 lead in the match.  Knox (2-14) was unable to rally from a big deficit in the third set, won by Dominican 25-4. Junior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) had 10 assists and eight digs.  Sophomore Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) also tallied eight digs while first-year Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) put down four kills. The Prairie Fire's second and final match of the day on Friday is against Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.

Rose-Hulman 3
Knox 1

Knox found itself in a 2-0 hole against Rose-Hulman after dropping the first two sets 23-25, 11-25.  The Prairie Fire (2-15) stayed alive by posting a 25-23 victory in set three.  Knox needed a win over the Fightin' Engineers (8-6) in the fourth set to even the match, but the Prairie Fire came up short 13-25.  First-year Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) had a team-high 10 kills to go with 17 digs, two block assists, and a solo block.  First-year Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis) and sophomore Nicole Heckman (Chicago, IL, Chicago Latin) added six kills each, junior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) recorded a match-high 29 assists, and sophomore Holly Bieber (Chicago, IL, Walter Payton College Prep) contributed 21 digs and a pair of service aces.  Knox plays two more matches in the tournament on Saturday.  The first one is against Lincoln Christian College at 10:00 a.m.  The Red Lions (7-6) lost to St. Xavier 3-0 and beat Monmouth College 3-0 in their first two matches on Friday.  The Prairie Fire and Aurora University square off in the finale for both squads at 2:00 p.m.  Aurora downed host Illinois Wesleyan 3-1 and Anderson College 3-2 on Friday.  The Spartans (10-5) and Knox will play for the second time this season.  Aurora won the first match-up 3-0 (25-21, 25-16, 25-19) on August 30 at Augustana Viking Classic.