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Bellarmine University Athletics

GLVC Tourney
Margaret Horihan recorded a career-high 34 kills for the Knights against UIS.
3
Winner Illinois Springfield UIS 22-10
2
Bellarmine BU 23-8
Winner
Illinois Springfield UIS
22-10
3
Final
2
Bellarmine BU
23-8
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Illinois Springfield UIS 23 25 25 30 15 (3)
Bellarmine BU 25 23 21 32 7 (2)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | by John Spugnardi, Sports Information Director

Knights' rally falls short as Prairie Stars win in five sets

EAST PEORIA, Ill.—Despite a colossal effort from Margaret Horihan and a monumental fourth set comeback, the Bellarmine Knights fell 3-2 to Illinois Springfield in a quarterfinal match at the Great Lakes Valley Conference Championship Tournament at the Eastside Centre on Friday night.
 
Bellarmine won the opening set, but UIS came back to take sets two and three.  The Prairie Stars threatened to close the match in four sets, but the Knights rallied, fighting off four match points en route to pulling out a 32-30 win to force a fifth set.
 
The fourth set effort perhaps took too much energy from the Knights as Bellarmine appeared to run out of steam in the fifth set. After the teams ran out to a 5-5 tie in the deciding game, the Prairie Stars recorded 10 of the game's final 12 points to post a 15-7 victory to seal the match.
 
Bellarmine, which came in as the No. 4 seed, got a career-high 34 kills from Horihan while senior setter Allie Muha also put up big numbers with 56 assists and 21 digs.  Katie Adams added 14 kills for BU.
 
Six different players recorded double-digit digs for the Knights, led by Jordyn Kuchenbrod's 26.  As a team, Bellarmine outdug the Prairie Stars 103-81.
 
However, fifth-seeded UIS countered with a strong blocking game, owning a 13-4 advantage in team blocks.  Offensively the Prairie Stars were paced by Taylor Bauer's 18 kills with Jailyn Borum and Alyssa Hasler adding 17 and 15 respectively.
 
The loss drops Bellarmine to 23-8 while UIS improves to 22-10.
 
The Knights now must wait to see if their impressive body of work this season has been enough to warrant an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.  In the latest regional rankings, Bellarmine was fourth in the Midwest Region. 
 
The 2017 NCAA Division II Volleyball Championship field will be announced Monday at 7:30 p.m. on a selection show aired on www.ncaa.com.
 
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HTM BOX SCORE
 
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