ST. LOUIS – The No. 18 University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team came up short in a 3-1 loss at Illinois Springfield on Saturday afternoon. The Tritons drop to 17-7, 6-5 GLVC while the Prairie Stars improve to 17-8, 7-4 GLVC.

UMSL trailed by as many as 18-11 in the opening set but came all the way back to the tie set at 24 thanks to a 13-6 run. The Tritons faced six set points and scored on all six to even the stanza. UIS had retook the lead twice but each time UMSL tied it to continue the set. The Prairie Stars took the lead for a third time after a service error by Iyannah Jackson and then an attack error from Addison Voorhees gave the frame to UIS 28-26.

The Tritons led by as many as five in the second set but UIS ran off five straight to even the stanza at 13. UMSL countered with a 7-2 run to regain its five-point advantage after a kill from Alayna Santel. The Prairie Stars kept fighting pulling to within 24-21 after a service ace from Erica Sledge but Sledge gave it right back on the next point with a service error to give the Tritons a 25-21 win and even the match at a set apiece.

UMSL held a 16-11 lead and was still ahead by four late in the swing set but couldn't close it out as UIS scored eight of the final 10 points to win 27-25 to take the 2-1 lead in the match.

Needing to win to extend the match, the Tritons got off to a hot start in the fourth set and led 15-6 after a kill from Voorhees but once again couldn't close it out as the Prairie Stars came all the way back to take an 18-17 lead after a kill from Makenna Cox. UMSL countered scoring four of the next five points to retake the lead at 21-19 but the Prairie Stars closed the match scoring six of the final seven points to win 25-22.

The Tritons hit .195 for the match with 63 kills against 27 errors in 185 attempts and were led by Jackson with a career-high 18 kills. Santel and Hannah Copeland had 13 kills each. Caitlin Bishop finished with 53 assists and Skylar Weaver had 24 digs.

UIS had an attack percentage of .223 recording 55 kills against 16 errors in 175 chances. Eirini Glynou led the Prairie Stars with 18 kills while Cox added 17 kills. Sledge handed out 38 assists and Cox and Glynou had 17 digs each.

UMSL begins its final homestand of the season next Friday hosting Southwest Baptist at 6 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.