ST. LOUIS, Missouri –The Prairie Fire bounced back from a season-opening loss with a 3-1 victory against Blackburn College on Friday at the 2015 ASICS Invite hosted by Washington University.

Knox took the first two sets 25-19 and 25-17, respectively.  The Beavers picked up the third set 25-23 before the Prairie Fire clinched the match with a 25-16 win in the fourth set.

Sophomore Rose Griffin (Maryland Heights, MO, Rosati-Kain) recorded a double-double for the Prairie Fire with 10 kills and 22 digs.  Senior Casey Stachelski (Joliet, IL, Plainfield Central) led all players with 29 assists.  She also shared team-high honors in aces (4) with first-year Rachael Powell (Indianapolis, IN, Lawrence Central) and blocks (3) with Griffin.  Powell added 18 digs while junior Nicole Heckman (Chicago, IL, Chicago Latin) tallied nine kills and two blocks.

As a team, Knox finished with 12 aces and 10 blocks against Blackburn (0-3).

The Prairie Fire fell to North Central College 3-0 (25-18, 25-16, 25-19) earlier in the day.

All three sets were close when the Cardinals (4-0) strung together runs of 7-1 (first set), 7-1 (second set), and 9-2 (third set) that Knox couldn't overcome.

Knox (1-1) received eight kills from Griffin, who also had eight digs.  Sophomore Kyleigh Guthals (Clovis, NM, Clovis) added seven kills and two aces, Stachelski doled out 18 assists to go with two blocks, and Powell chipped in with nine digs and a pair of service aces.

The Prairie Fire meet up with host and #9 ranked Wash U. (3-0) on Saturday at 9:30 a.m. before concluding play in the tournament against the University of Dallas (2-1) at 1:30 p.m.