Sterling volleyball is working its way through a slump. The Golden Warriors lost a fifth straight match after falling 25-16, 25-15 Tuesday night at Rock Island in Western Big 6 Conference action.

The Rocks (3-9, 2-2) led for all but one point as it won its third match in the last four contests.

Sterling (6-7, 0-4) had just three kills as a team in the loss.

Sterling coach Dale Dykeman said the team is dealing with injuries, but the players should hopefully be back within a few weeks.

“We’re a little banged up, but that’s not an excuse,” he said. “The next girl up has got to play.”

Rock Island went up 3-0 and never trailed in the first set. Sterling took a brief 2-1 lead in the second set before the Rocks retook control. Sterling cut the second set to a 20-15 deficit, but the Rocks scored the final five points.

“I thought we passed well enough, we got in system well enough; for some reason we couldn’t click on offense,” Dykeman said. “It took a little bit to adjust to the tempo. They’ve got an incredible setter [AJ Stewart], who runs a really high-tempo offense.”

Stewart finished with 14 assists and seven digs.

Rock Island coach Alexandria Battin said her team played composed. She said Stewart’s leadership is a big reason why.

“I think she’s very positive and everybody in our program looks up to her,” Battin said. “I know I look up to her as a coach. She’s a big influence out here on the court and kind of keeps this team whole.

“She’s led our team as captain for the last three years since she was a sophomore ... She’s a coach on the court.”

Mya Lira had four digs at libero for Sterling.

“We’ve got the kids on the floor that I think are the best we can put on the floor, and tonight we just did not perform well enough offensively to compete with a decent team,” Dykeman said.

With more game experience and getting healthy, Dykeman said the team is on the right track.

“We’re getting better,” he said. “Sometimes it’s hard to see the light through the dark. But we’ll get some kids back and I think we’ll be a pretty scary team rolling into the back half of conference and regionals.”

Sterling has already played the top three teams in the conference in Quincy, Moline and Geneseo. The Blue Devils are 11-0.

“Our offense hasn’t really let us down many times,” Dykeman said, “and then tonight, we just weren’t as sharp as we needed to be to compete with that team.”