JACKSONVILLE, ILL. -- Principia volleyball traveled to Jacksonville to compete in the Illinois College Invitational, and came home 2-0 with victories over IC and Aurora College.  The overall tone of the day was that the players were "in the game". It didn't really matter who was on the court – the group worked to solve problems and to refocus after mistakes. It wasn't always beautiful volleyball, in fact it was pretty messy at points, BUT what was beautiful was how the players played the match and how they supported the team effort!

Against Illinois College, Prin controlled the match in games one and two. In game three IC had a run and was poised to take the game at 22-19. The Prin women just kept at it, and every bold refocus took them closer to the victory until they finished the game 25-23! The match against IC was marked with tough serving from the team. Freshman Lily Richards led the charge with 3 aces, and Savanna Sprague and Christine Nacewicz each added two.  The team was hitting hard today putting down 14 kills per game, and hitting .282 as a team. The offensive efforts were balanced and bold and quick. The group was solid on the defensive side of the ball as well, with four players digging in the double digits – Summer  18, Tess 11, Molly Moser 14, Savanna 14.

The team had about a half hour break before their match with Aurora – a true test of the level of their fitness! Game one was ugly, but Prin just kept playing and they got more alert and more on top of their game as time went by.  The team put together some heroic defensive efforts to keep the ball alive, and that seemed to fuel them. In this match there were five players digging in double digits – Sierra Sprague picked up 10, Tess 12, Summer 16, Molly 12, and Christine Nacewicz 12! The team's defensive soul seemed to light their offensive fire as well. Principia out hit Aurora 44 kills (.245) to 23 kills (.061), with Tess leading the way with 21 kills, and hitting an impressive .531. Lily added 9 kills, and Christine, Sierra, Savanna, and Jess Bushong each added 5 kills. After Aurora narrowed the Principia lead to 14-12, Sierra Sprague stepped up to the service line and served four in a row. With alert defense from the rest of the team, Sierra's tough serves moved us to a much stronger 18-12.

Sitting at 2-0, Principia faces Culver-Stockton and MacMurray tomorrow in day two of the tourney!