Sam Black
Knox College
Sam Black surgically dug out 46 Rockford attacks.
3
Winner Knox KC 1-16,0-0 Midwest
2
Rockford Rock 1-6,0-0 NACC
Winner
Knox KC
1-16,0-0 Midwest
3
Final
2
Rockford Rock
1-6,0-0 NACC
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Knox KC 22 25 27 23 15 (3)
Rockford Rock 25 19 25 25 13 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball |

Knox Outlasts Rockford in Five-Set Victory

Sam Black had 46 of the team’s 154 digs, their most in a decade

ROCKFORD, Ill. — In a marathon five-set match, the visiting Knox College volleyball team defeated Rockford on Tuesday evening, 22-25, 25-19, 27-25, 23-25, 15-13, for the Prairie Fire's first win of the 2025 season, ending their 16-game skid. Sophomore Maria Jabor Jahn had 12 kills to lead the Knox attack, but it was its defense that truly led to the victory.

As a team, the Prairie Fire recorded 154 digs — its most in almost exactly a decade — and the Regents had 157 of their own, leading to a number of extended rallies between the two teams. Five Knox players posted a career high in digs, led by senior Sam Black with a whopping 46, while both sophomore Bri Holland and senior Zoe Pav added 22 and 21 more, respectively.

The match did not begin terribly well for the Prairie Fire, though it did nearly rally from a 19-13 deficit with five straight points, but ultimately fell, 25-22, to begin their evening. The second set was more to their liking, ballooning a 7-6 lead into a 15-7 advantage before tying up the sets at one apiece.

Rockford threatened to take the lead in the third set with a 24-21 lead, but Knox forced four attack errors and served up a pair of aces to rally for 27-25 win and gain the advantage. In the fourth set, the Regents jumped out in front early, but the Prairie Fire tied things up on six different occasions, yet could not ever take the lead as Rockford fended off defeat.

Maria Jabor Jahn secures the win with this kill.

But Rockford's efforts were for naught as Knox took control of the decisive fifth set, then fended off the Regents before ending the match on Jabor Jahn's 12th and final kill.

  • The difference came down to the serving game as Rockford committed 19 service errors to just six for Knox.
  • Holland also had a career-high 16 assists to record a double-double, as did sophomore Zoe Thunhurst with 18 assists and 19 digs.
  • Others with career-high digs were sophomore Madelyn Dittrich (16) and junior Elle Haddon (13).
  • Knox is now 9-2 against Rockford over the past decade, though the Regents had won the previous two meetings.

Knox will carry this momentum into its home opener on Thursday evening at Memorial Gymnasium when the Fire play host to Principia College (1-0) at 7 p.m. The match will be streamed live with live stats available through PrairieFire.Knox.edu, the official website of Knox College Athletics.

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