Illinois Lutheran traveled to Kankakee Trinity Academy for a non-conference match on Friday, September 9. The two teams traded points in a close first set. With the Chargers behind 22-24, Emma Nagle’s serves tied the score at 24. A side out by Trinity gave them the point and the serve, and they were able to close out the set with a 26-24 win. The Chargers struggled with too many serving and hitting errors and ended up losing the second set and the match 16-25. Emma Nagle had 3 aces, 9 assists, and 8 digs, Anna Oestmann – 2 aces, 3 kills, and 11 digs, Kate Latzke added 4 kills, and Zoe Biesterfeld had 3 kills and 9 digs.

On September 13, Illinois Lutheran traveled to Cullom to take on TriPoint in a River Valley Conference match. ILHS struggled from the opening serve and trailed by as many as 9 before trying to close the gap. They came within 6, but were unable to get any closer and dropped the first set 19-25. In the second set, ILHS started the set with the first two points. The Chargers were up 5-3, when a serving run by TriPoint put them up 11-5. ILHS was unable to recover and lost the second set and the match, 15-25.

Anna Oestmann led the defense with 8 digs, Zoe Biesterfeld added 7 digs, 5 kills, and a block assist, Kate Latzke had 3 kills, a solo block, and 2 block assists, while Kailey Van Es, Ryleigh Peters, and Emma Nagle each added 5 digs.

Illinois Lutheran hosted Clifton Central on September 15 in an RVC match. The first set was back-and-forth with neither team gaining more than a two-point advantage. There were many ties and lead changes until Clifton took the lead late in the set, and they were able to close it out with a 25-22 win. It looked like the Chargers would be looking at a two-set loss, when Clifton jumped out to an early lead in the second set. The Chargers were down by 6 at one point but closed the gap to 18-19. Zoe Biesterfeld stepped to the serving line and served 6 straight points to put the Chargers at set point, 24-19. Clifton closed the gap to 22-24, but a missed serve gave the set to the Chargers 25-22. In the third and deciding set, the Chargers jumped out to a 4-1 lead behind the serving of Bianca Hurst. Clifton got a side out and went on a run to go up 7-4. A Charger side out and a 5-point run behind the serving of Mia Jacobucci put the Chargers ahead 10-7. They increased the lead to 18-13, but Clifton came back to get within one at 21-22. The Chargers were able to take advantage of some late serving errors by Clifton and finished the third set and the match with a 25-23 win.

Grace Atherton, Zoe Biesterfeld and Mia Jacobucci each had two aces, while Bianca Hurst, Anna Oestmann and Kate Latzke each added one ace. Kailey Van Es had 10 assists, 1 kill, and 4 digs. Zoe Biesterfeld had 16 digs on the night, while Ryleigh Peters added 13, and Anna Oestmann had 11. Zoe Biesterfeld also had 6 kills and 3 block assists. The Chargers are now 4-11 overall and 1-4 in the RVC.