IW volleyball falls in opener

MT. PLEASANT - The ball didn't bounce Iowa Wesleyan's way in their season opener at Ruble Arena on Wednesday night. The Tigers played Knox College nearly evenly in total points, but the Prairie Fire took the final two sets of the night to win the match in four.

After splitting the first two sets, a tight third game swung the way of the Prairie Fire, and IW couldn't rebound in game four, falling 25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 25-19.

Ruble was rocking early in the first set, as IW took the first four points of the season. Knox bounced right back with four-straight of their own, however, and it was on.

The two teams split the first 22 points evenly, but Knox grabbed the lead at 12-11 and hung on for the rest of the game. Jenna Murphy almost brought the Tigers back from the serve, taking the ball at 24-20 and winning the next three points, including an ace that cut the Knox lead to 24-23, but the next point went to Knox, and the Tigers found themselves in a 1-0 hole.

IW controlled the second set. The Tigers jumped out to an early 5-3 lead and never looked back. Grace Thomas and Lida Landre played strong at the net, and IW was able to keep the lead for a relatively uneventful 25-19 win.

The Tigers held as much as a three-point lead early in the third, pulling out to a 9-6 advantage. The Prairie fire scored 11 out of the next 16 points, however, to flipped the script with a three-point lead of their own, at 17-14.

IW climbed back into it, even cutting the lead back to one point, at 23-22, but Knox took the next two sets and IW's back was against the wall, down 2-1.

The Tigers fed Landre in the corner early and often in the fourth set. IW led 9-7 early, but the Prairie Fire came back again, and once again snatched the lead away halfway through the game.

The fourth set was the only one where IW was unable to hit 20 points, falling 25-19 in the fourth and 3-1 overall.

'It was a great competition tonight,” said head coach Aleksandra Popovic. 'There's a lot for us to learn from this game, and we're just very excited to get back on the court and get better. We have a great weekend ahead of us, going up to Milwaukee, and it's going to be an exciting week.”

Coach Popovic says the Tigers are still finding their chemistry on the court, but the first year head coach doesn't want her team to take too long to sharpen up before the meat of the season. The Tigers will play four games in two days on Friday, Sept. 6 and Saturday, Sept. 7, when they play in the Mt. Mary tournament in Milwauke, Wisconsin.

'This was our getting sharp game,” Popovic says. 'There's no more. This weekend we go.”

After their busy weekend, the Tigers will have a short rest until their SLIAC opener. They'll take on Webster University on Thursday, Sept. 12.