GALESBURG, Ill. — Two weeks after defeating the Rockford University Regents on the road, the Knox College volleyball team could not duplicate its success, falling at Memorial Gymnasium on Tuesday evening in straight sets, 25-23, 25-18, 25-19. For the Prairie Fire (2-19), it was their third straight loss, while Rockford improved to 3-8 with its first sweep of the season.

While Knox began the match by taking the first three points, that would be the largest lead of the opening set as the two sides battled back and forth with twelve lead changes along the way. But after the Prairie Fire took a 22-21 lead on an ace from junior Elle Haddon, Rockford took four of the five points to squeak out the first set.

Knox once again jumped out front in the second set, taking a 7-3 advantage as Haddon provided a pair of kills. A quick Regent timeout at that point did the trick for the visiting squad as it scored the next four points, evening the score. Neither team led by more than four the entire rest of the set until Rockford led 20-18 and it scored five straight to take a 2-0 lead.

Apparently Knox winning the first point of the set was a bad omen of things to come, because after the Fire took the first two points of the third set, they would not hold a lead again. They did rally to tie the score at 17 apiece, but they could not quite get over the hump and the Regents fended off any hope of a comeback.

• Haddon led all players with 10 kills while adding 11 digs for her first career double-double.
• Knox is now 9-3 all-time against Rockford.
• The Regents posted 37 kills and a .163 attack percentage, while the Prairie Fire were limited to 24 kills and .025 attack percentage.

Knox continues its eight-match home stand on Saturday morning (Oct. 11) at 11 a.m. when it hosts Midwest Conference foe Beloit College (2-14, 0-3 MWC), a team the Fire have defeated in nine of the last 11 meetings. The match will be streamed live with live stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.