Sangamon Sun

The Illinois College women's volleyball team secured their first conference victory of the season with a 3-1 win against Lawrence University. The match, which took place in Appleton, Wisconsin, marked the beginning of Midwest Conference play for both teams.

Illinois College improved their season record to 9-10, while Lawrence University's record fell to 5-14. The final score was IC 3, Lawrence 1 (19-25, 25-21, 25-20, 25-21).

After a challenging non-conference schedule, this win was an important start for the Lady Blues in their conference journey. Despite losing the first set, Illinois College bounced back to claim the next three sets.

Laura Kaiser played a pivotal role for Illinois College by leading with 16 kills on just 19 attempts and achieving a .842 hitting percentage. Ligaya Garibay also contributed significantly with 13 kills and seven digs.

Summer Brandis topped the assists chart for Illinois College with 26 assists during the match, closely followed by Kahli O'Neal who had 17 assists. Alex Johnson added two aces to her team's total of six aces.

Despite Lawrence University posting a .254 hitting percentage and Margaret Hanke contributing with 21 kills for her team, Illinois College managed to secure victory with an impressive .373 hitting percentage.

Notably, Laura Kaiser set a new school record for hitting percentage in a match with at least 12 kills. Her performance surpassed Sara Long's previous record from 2002.

The Lady Blues will continue their conference play against Ripon on Saturday afternoon at 1:00 pm.