GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire volleyball team defeated Dominican 3-0 in the morning match before falling to Eureka 3-2 in the afternoon match.
Knox used a comeback in set one against the Stars to take the momentum early. Trailing 20-12, the Prairie Fire outscored Dominican 14-4 to take the 26-24 win.
Knox took an early 14-7 lead in set two, but had to stave off a late run from the Stars to take a 25-20 victory.
The third set was a back-and-forth affair and Knox had their backs against the wall late in the set as they faced a 23-20 deficit. They reeled off four points in a row to take the lead, but the teams traded leads until the Prairie Fire scored three to end the set 29-27.
Catessa Duran led Knox with 16 kills. Katie Anderson added 34 assists and Emme Patton tallied 19 digs.
Knox took a 20-13 lead in the first set against the Red Devils, but Eureka came back to win 25-23.
The Red Devils held an 18-16 lead late in the second set, but used a 3-0 run to take the lead and win the second set 25-19.
The Prairie Fire led 23-19 late in the third set, but Eureka made it close with four of the next five points. Knox held on to keep the match alive with a 25-23 win in set three.
After taking an early 8-7 lead, the Prairie Fire cruised to a 25-14 win in the fourth set to force a deciding fifth set.
Eureka led 8-6 as the teams switched sides in the fifth set, but Knox stormed back to take a 9-8 lead. After some back-and-forth, the teams found themselves in a 12-12 tie. Eureka took the next three points to earn the match victory.
Anderson racked up 53 assists in the match to break the Knox record for assists in a match. Duran picked up 26 kills and Patton added 38 digs.
"We played very well this morning," said head coach Pat Barry. "Unfortunately we put ourselves in a tought position in the afternoon match and some breaks just didn't go our way. We fought the whole day, but we should have come away with two wins."
The Prairie Fire will return to action on September 13 when they travel to Blackburn College.
