GALESBURG, Illinois - The Prairie Fire volleyball team fell to Cornell 3-0 in the Midwest Conference opener on Friday night.

The Rams used a 13-0 run in the middle of the first set to cruise to a 25-4 victory in the first set.

Knox took an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but Cornell bounced back quickly to take an 8-5 lead. The Rams went on a 7-0 run shortly after to jump ahead 17-7 to set up a 25-13 win in the second set.

The Prairie Fire scored the first two points of the third set, but Cornell took the next nine points to take control early once again. The Rams won the third set 25-12.

Catessa Duran led Knox with six kills on the day. Katie Anderson added 13 assists and nine digs.

"We had been playing our best volleyball coming into this game," said head coach Pat Barry. "We knew Cornell was a good team and we just didn't execute the way we are capable. This is just a minor setback with the rest of the conference season ahead of us, but we will need to play better than tonight."

The Prairie Fire return to action as they host Beloit on September 24 to continue conference play.