GALESBURG, Ill. — The Knox College volleyball team won its second match in its first four contests of a six-match home stand, defeating visiting Eureka College by a 3-1 margin (25-19, 25-17, 19-25, 25-17). Senior Caroline Wolters provided 17 kills and a career-high 30 digs while first-year Maria Clara Jabor Jahn had 11 kills of her own for the Prairie Fire (2-18), while the Red Devils (3-13) had a pair of players with a dozen of their own.
Trailing 5-4, Knox rode 10 straight points in the first set to take control of the match. Three times Eureka battled back to within three, but a pair of Red Devil errors closed out the opening set. The Prairie Fire ran out to a similar lead in the second set at 14-6. Late in the stanza Eureka had closed the gap to four at 21-17, only to have sophomore Mayra Diaz swat a kill and Wolters drill two as Knox ran off the final four points to take a 2-0 lead.
The Red Devils showed some fire in the third set, swinging at a .190 percentage, to get back in the match. But the reprieve was short-lived as the Prairie Fire outlasted Eureka in a sloppy fourth set which featured a combined 22 errors and only 14 kills.
- Wolters' previous best in digs was 21 she recorded three years ago.
- Junior Carly Smith had a hand in a career-high six blocks (one solo) out of Knox's eight rejections.
- Three other Prairie Fire players had at least 10 digs — junior Sam Black (13), and first-years Lynn Hoang (12) and Zoe Thunhurst (11).
Knox is back in action in two days on homecoming when it hosts Midwest Conference foe Ripon College (8-14, 0-4). Saturday's match will begin at 1 p.m. at Memorial Gymnasium with live video and stats available through the official website of Knox College Athletics, PrairieFire.Knox.edu.
