JACKSONVILLE, Ill. - Webster University closed out the regular season portion of its 2018 volleyball schedule here Tuesday evening by suffering a three-set setback to Illinois College (25-15, 25-15, 25-19) in non-conference action at Sherman Gymnasium on the Illinois College campus.

Tuesday's loss was Webster's fourth straight setback as it dropped its record to 18-11 overall, while Illinois College improved to 22-6 on the year. Webster finished the regular season with a 2-9 record in non-conference matches and closed the year losing its final nine non-conference matches after opening the season with back-to-back home wins on Aug. 31 against Lincoln College (3-1) and Benedictine (3-2). 

In Tuesday's match, Webster's offense struggled as they hit under .100 for the second time in its last three matches and sixth time on the season. The Gorloks had 24 kills on the night, including sophomore outside hitter Samantha Kruse (Waterloo, Ill./Waterloo) leading the way with seven kills. 

Along with Kruse, junior middle hitter Taylor Kissel (St. Louis, Mo./Lutheran South) and junior right side hitter Sarah Jacobs (Carbondale, Ill./Murphysboro) each had five kills. Kissel hit a team-best .286 for the match. 

Defensively, Webster finished with 52 digs as they were outdug, 65-54 and outblocked, 3-2 for the match. The Gorloks have now been outdug in its last five matches. IC hit .283 for the match. 

Sophomore libero Kristen Farrah (St. Charles, Mo./Francis Howell) paced WU's defense with a match-high 26 to push her season total to 786. The 786 digs pushed her career total to 1,185 digs, which is 10th on the school's all-time list. Farrah, who is now second in Division III in digs per set, is averaging 8.10 digs per set. With her 26 digs, Farrah has now recorded 21 matches this season with 20 or more digs. 

Illinois College jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the opening set and led 11-4 when WU used a 5-3 run to pull within 14-9. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Jacobs. The Lady Blues, though, would respond 7-4 run to push its lead to 21-13. After back-to-back attack errors by IC's Ali Pankey brought the Gorloks within 21-25, IC would close out the set by scoring the final four points to seal its 25-15 win. In the set, Webster hit .030, while IC hit .214 and had 16 kills to WU's six kills.

In the second set, IC jumped out once again to an early lead as they led 10-4 and held a 15-8 lead when WU scored five of the next 10 points to pull within 20-13. After the team's traded points, IC would close out the second set by scoring four of the final five points to post a 25-15 win. In the set, WU hit .047 as they had eight kills, while IC hit .333 with 18 kills.

IC would start strong in the third set as they scored 11 of the first 15 points to take an early 11-4 lead, before WU responded with a 5-2 scoring run capped by a kill from Kissel to pull the Gorloks within four at 12-8. IC would answer by scoring three of the next five points to push its lead to 15-10. Webster, though, wouldn't go away as they answered by scoring four of the next five points to pull within 16-14. That would be as close as the Gorloks would get as IC scored nine of the set's final 14 points to post a 25-19 set win to seal its sweep. In the set, Webster hit .132 and had 10 kills, while IC hit .300 with 17 kills. 

Maddie Ramsey led the Lady Blues with 13 kills and a .565 hitting percentage, while Pankey and Brenna Dameris each had 12 kills and combined to hit .267 in the win. Pankey added 15 digs for a double-double, while Elizabeth Ganley had 44 assists for the Lady Blues.

Webster will now turn its attention to the St. Louis Intercollegiate Tournament as the Gorloks, who earned the No. 1 seed in the tournament after tying to the regular season league title with Greenville, will face No. 4 seeded Westminster (Mo.) College in the first of two semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Grant Gymnasium. The Webster-Westminster match will begin at 2 p.m. The second semifinal on Saturday will pit No. 2 seeded Greenville facing No. 3 seeded Principia at 4 p.m. The semifinal winners will meet on Saturday evening at 7 p.m. for the championship. The winner of the SLIAC Tournament earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.