Tournament yields first loss

The Cyclones suffered their first losses of the season after going 1-2 in the Illinois Central College Invitational.

On the first night of competition, the No. 15 nationally ranked Cyclones fell 3-0 to No. 8 Kirkwood Community College and 3-1 to host Illinois Central College (No. 13). They were not on their A-game to start the tournament, despite their ability to defeat these higher ranking teams.

In the first match, the Cyclones lost 23-25, 15-25, 22-25. Noelle Knezz had 11 kills, Lauren Gausselin amassed 16 digs, and Abbigail Fletcher collected 20 digs and 13 kills.

Against Illinois Central they fell 25-21, 20-25, 20-25, 17-25. Gausselin led with 25 digs. Amanda Bulow and Fletcher (11 kills) each had 17 digs. Knezz finished with 17 assists and 15 kills while Taylor Bulow had 16 assists.

The Cyclones bounced back on Saturday to defeat Millikin University JV in three: 25-7, 25-14, 25-16. Fletcher led with 16 digs while Knezz had 11 assists and seven kills.