SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - The first eight matches for Truman included four ranked foes, two teams that received votes in the AVCA's week one poll and a combined opponents' record of 42-23 (.646 winning percentage). Friday night, though, the Bulldogs returned to the friendly confines of GLVC play and did so with a 3-1 win at Illinois Springfield.

With the victory, TSU improved to 2-7 overall and UIS fell to 5-4 on the year. Kayla Bastian (pictured) led the offensive attack as she turned in her third-consecutive double-double and fifth of the season with a team-high 12 kills and 16 digs. Jasmine Brown also tallied double-digit kills, which she hadn't done yet in 2016, with 11.

Other team leaders included Savvy Hughes (23 assists), Lauren Wacker (26 digs) and Natalie Brimeyer (3 blocks) while Meghan Gasper registered a second-straight double-double thanks to 19 helpers and 10 digs.

In the first set, the first 23 points scored featured five ties and two lead changes and Truman was ahead by one, 12-11. The Bulldogs then embarked on a quick 5-1 run to take some momentum and a 17-12 advantage. During that stretch alone, Bastian sent home three kills including one service ace. After the Prairie Stars scored the next two points to make it 17-14, the visitors ended the set with an 8-3 spurt to go up 1-0.

The beginning of the second set was all about the Bulldogs as they scored 11 of the first 13 points thanks in part to three kills apiece from Brown and Lacey Hill as well as two Bastian service aces. From that point on, Illinois Springfield was never closer than two points (24-22) before a Jocelynn Livingston kill put TSU up two sets to none.

The third set was a wild one with 13 deadlocks and three lead changes. The biggest lead for either team was five, 22-17, when UIS was ahead, but Truman didn't go away quietly. The Bulldogs racked up seven of the next nine points to even things up at 24-24, but the Prairie Stars were on the right end of the last two points to salvage a set.

In the fourth set, Illinois Springfield's latest lead was 12-9 and despite three ties after that, TSU maintained control of the action. Fittingly, Truman's final point came from the team's best offensive player of the night, Bastian, on an assist from Gasper.

Next up, the Bulldogs travel to McKendree on Saturday for a league affair beginning at 3 p.m.