DECATUR, Ill. ­— The Knox College volleyball team traveled to Millikin University to match up with Franklin College and Anderson University (Ind.) on Friday, but the Prairie Fire (0-12) could not snap its season-opening skid with a pair of 3-0 defeats by margins of 25-14, 25-17, 25-17 and 25-11, 25-9, 25-18, respectively.

The match against Franklin (6-9) began well for Knox with service aces on two of the first four points. But with the first set knotted at five, the Grizzlies strung together five straight points and never looked back to take a 1-0 lead. Franklin jumped out to a 15-5 lead in the second set only to have Knox win the next seven points as sophomore Mayra Diaz served up a couple of aces. That would be as close as the Prairie Fire would come, however, as Franklin fended off the Fire. It looked as if Knox would start a comeback in the third set, holding a 15-13 lead. Those hopes were dashed when the Grizzlies roared back with nine consecutive points before clinching the sweep.

Anderson (7-1) proved to be even more difficult as it never trailed in the first two sets, winning the first three points to start the match and the first six in the second set. Senior Caroline Wolters got the Prairie Fire off to a better start in set three with a kill and an ace out of the gate. Although the Ravens rebounded to take a 12-5 lead, a five-point Knox surge allowed the team to close the gap to a single point at 15-14. The two sides traded points before Anderson scored the next four, and the Prairie Fire was unable to recover.

• Sophomore Lydia Karli performed well in both matches, producing a dozen kills over both with an attack percentage of .250, not to mention career highs in kills (7) and attack percentage (.333) against Anderson.
• Knox matched a season low with only 11 attack errors in the first match, then bested that in the second with a mere nine.

The Prairie Fire have a week off before suiting up against at Elmhurst University on the Blue Jays' homecoming date, Saturday, Sept. 28. The match starts at 6:30 p.m. in Elmhurst, Illinois, at R.A. Faganel Hall and will be streamed live with in-game stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.