JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – Beloit College women's volleyball competed through a tough match this afternoon at Sherman Gymnasium, falling to Illinois College 3-0 (25-8, 25-11, 25-11). The Bucs dropped to 4-10 overall and 0-4 in conference play. Illinois College improved to 9-9 and 3-2 MWC.
Beloit's serve receive held up well against a Illinois College serving attack, and the Bucs' defense kept rallies alive with 18 digs. The team finished with a .957 serve-reception rating on serves it put in play and received 53 serves with a .779 reception percentage, led by a standout effort from libero Maddisyn Adams (Stockett, MT).
The Bucs also showed fight in the late stages of sets, with runs of points in both the second and third sets to chip away at the deficit.
Beloit opened set 1 with a Madeline Holthaus (Saint Paul, MN) kill off a Selin Tufte (Clarkdale, Ariz.) set and led early before Illinois College took control with a long service run. Beloit took two timeouts to settle things down. Holthaus and Kierra Rayne Hoover (Albuquerque, New Mexico) each had a kill in the set, and Hoover's kill late in the frame made it 24-8 before the set ended.
In the second set, Aaliyah Gerard (Aiea, HI) handled setting duties as Madalyn Huizel (Faribault, MN) opened the scoring with a kill. Sydney McClellan (Eastvale, Calif.) came in and put in a strong serve-receive performance, with 8 receptions at a .727 clip. Beloit also earned points through Adelaide Schmitt (Aurora, Colo.) kill and a pair of service reception stretches that kept the Bucs in rallies.
Beloit turned in its best offensive set in the last set, hitting 5 kills and showing balance across the lineup. Hoover had 2 kills at .667, while Audrey Deane (Omaha, NE), Naomi Murphy (Dubuque, Iowa) and Lilianne Bethards (Rockford, IL) each added a kill. Deane's kill, set up by Gerard, came during a stretch that cut a 19-5 deficit to 19-8.
Beloit will look to build on a reliable serve-receive performance as they return to action on Tuesday, October 20th at Flood Arena in a non-conference match up with Dominican University (Ill.) at 7pm.
