Friday night the UIS volleyball team was in Aurora, Illinois for the annual GLVC/GLIAC crossover tournament at the Great Lakes Center. After losing to Southern Indiana last week in three sets, the volleyball team was looking for a win. In the first game of the tournament the team faced the Saginaw Valley State Cardinals.

In the first set, the Prairie Stars won with a score of 25-13. What was even better than the win was the hitting percentage by the Stars. The Stars had a .241 hitting percentage (10 kills, 3 errors, 29 attacks) which is what propelled them to the 25-13 win of the first set.

The second set was much closer is points, however with a .212 hitting percentage with Stars won the second set 25-21. The Stars now had a 2-0 lead over the Cardinals.

The last set of the game was the closest out of all three sets. The final score of the third set was 25-23 in favor of the UIS Prairie Stars. They won their first game of the tournament with a final score of three sets to zero.

Senior Annie Nottingham and junior Sara Baker both had nine kills apiece to lead the stars. Nottingham also had a match high of 14 digs along with junior Kellee Mahaffay. Junior Bianca Sanchez followed with 10 digs. Senior setter Rebeka Pruemer also had a match high of 24 assists for the Prairie Stars.

Saturday the Stars played a double header against Michigan Tech and Lake Superior State.

Against Michigan Tech the Stars won three sets to zero, 28-26, 25-18, and 25-18. The Stars were led by Nottingham who had 14 kills and a hitting percentage of .355. She was closely followed by Mahaffay who had a double-double of 12 kills and 14 digs. This win put the girls 2-0 in the tournament and 6-12 overall record.

Against Lake Superior State the Stars had more of a challenge. After losing the first set 18-25, they would step it up and come back to win three sets to one and wrap up a perfect weekend. This is the first time for the program to finish unbeaten in the GLVC/ GLIAC crossover. Once again Nottingham and Mahaffay led the team with 15 kills each. Baker would also contribute by adding 12 more kills and 11 digs. Sanchez also had a match high of four ace serves.

The Stars rise to 7-12 overall record.