St. Louis – Elizabeth Eardly smashed down 11 kills and hit.435 but the Maryville volleyball team fell to Illinois Springfield in four sets Saturday afternoon at the Simon Center. The set scores were 13-25, 14-25, 28-26, 10-25. 

What Happened – The Prairie Stars jumped out to an early 12-4 in the first set and cruised to win the set. UIS hit .435 in the opening frame while the Saints were held to a .045 hitting percentage. In the second set, the Prairie Stars once again broke out to an early lead of 13-5 before Eardly buried a kill to stop the run. After UIS extended the lead to 22-11, Mikaela Kues had a pair of kills to help the Saints battle back, but it was not enough as UIS took the set. After the teams were tied at 9-9 in the third set, the Saints scored three straight points with a service ace from Kayla Buxton and another kill by Kues to take a 12-9 lead. The two teams went back and forth the rest of the way as Maryville scored the last two points of the set on an attack error and Eardly gave the Saints the game on a kill. UIS opened the fourth set with a 15-1 run to take the early advantage. Maryville answered with 7-4 run of its own keyed by a pair of kills by Faith Ahlhardt. The Prairie Stars scored six of the last eight points to close out the match.

Statistical Leaders
Kills:  Eardly - 11
Assists: Buxton - 17
Digs: Cassidy Arndt - 22
Service Aces: Arndt - 3 

Records
Maryville: 4-12, 0-4 GLVC
UIS: 12-4, 4-0 GLVC

What's Next?
The Saints return to Moloney Arena to host Missouri S&T Tuesday, Oct. 8, in a 7 p.m. match.