(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 27)—The McKendree University volleyball team gave the NAIA’s No. 10-ranked team all it could handle Thursday at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. In the end, the visiting Cougars took an American Midwest Conference victory in four games by scores of 30-21, 24-30, 30-27 and 30-14.

 

The loss was the first for McKendree this season in AMC play. The Bearcats are now 13-2 overall and 4-1 in the league, while Columbia moves to 12-4 on the year and remains perfect in conference action at 7-0.

 

Senior middle hitter Angie Clark (Charleston, Mo./Charleston) (Charleston, Mo./Charleston) led McKendree with 10 kills, while junior middle hitter Katelyn Kombrink (O'Fallon, Ill./O'Fallon) (O’Fallon, Ill./O’Fallon) collected a match-high 10 blocks, including seven solos, for the Bearcats. Senior setter Allison DeGroot (Highland, Ill./Highland) (Highland, Ill./Highland) had a team-leading 21 assists. That moved DeGroot within six assists of becoming the fifth player in Bearcat history with 2,000 career assists.

 

In the first game, Columbia jumped out in front early and built a 20-10 lead before the Bearcats rallied. McKendree strung together six consecutive points, highlighted by a pair of aces from junior setter Dana Maedge (Highland, Ill./Highland) (Highland, Ill./Highland) to pull within 20-16. The Cougars rebounded by scoring the next five points to hold on for the victory.

 

The Bearcats were the ones with the early momentum in game two, surging to a 3-1 lead before Columbia tightened up the contest. The game was tied when a kill by Clark sparked a run of three consecutive points that gave McKendree a 21-19 advantage. The Cougars quickly rallied and took a 24-23 lead before the Bearcats took control. McKendree scored the final seven points of the game to even the match at 1-1.

 

The third game was a seesaw contest as well. Clark helped the Bearcats tie the game at 24-24 with another kill when the Cougars scored next four points to regain the momentum. After winning the third game by three points, Columbia rolled to a 27-8 lead in the fourth and final contest to seal the match victory.

 

Fabiane Nass led a balanced attack for Columbia with nine kills, while Yi Zhang-Li posted seven attacks. Luana Branco handed out a match-high 32 assists for the Cougars.

 

 

Columbia           30         24         30         30

McKendree        21         30         27         14

 

McKendree is now 13-2 overall and 4-1 in the American Midwest Conference

Columbia is 12-4 overall and 7-0 in the AMC