(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 10)—The McKendree University volleyball team was defeated twice on the first day of the Baker University Invitational Friday in Baldwin City, Kan. The Bearcats were swept by host Baker University in the opening match before dropping a five-set contest to Ottawa University.
McKendree slips to 5-3 on the season and will close out its stay in Kansas with two more matches on Saturday. The Bearcats will meet Avila University at 9 a.m. before facing off against Benedictine College at 3 p.m.
In Friday's first match against Baker, the Bearcats and Wildcats went toe-to-toe in the first set. Baker eventually pulled ahead to record a 27-25 victory and used that as a springboard in posting a sweep of the match. The Wildcats won the final two sets to take the match, 25-17 and 25-9.
Junior hitter Melinda Bayer (Collinsville, IL/Triad) (Collinsville, Ill./Triad) had a team-best five kills to lead McKendree, while senior outside hitter Tara Ryterski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) was right behind with four. Senior setter Alyssa Speckhals (Hermann, Mo./Hermann) (Hermann, Mo./Hermann) dished out a team-leading 17 assists to go along with eight digs. Senior defensive specialist Lindsey Gray (Lebanon, Ill./Lebanon) (Lebanon, Ill./Lebanon) collected 17 digs in the contest for the Bearcats.
Against Ottawa, McKendree won the first two sets and was in position to even its record for the afternoon. However, the Braves battled back to force a deciding fifth set, which went to Ottawa. The Braves won the match by scores of 11-25, 19-25, 25-19, 25-18 and 15-10.
Senior middle hitter Carrie Brickey (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) (St. Louis, Mo./Rosati-Kain) paced McKendree with 13 kills as Tara Ryterski (Nashville, Ill./Nashville) contributed 10 attacks. Junior setter Melissa Bayer (Collinsville, IL/Triad) (Collinsville, Ill./Triad) had 22 assists and 18 digs in the match as Alyssa Speckhals (Hermann, Mo./Hermann) handed out 15 assists. Lindsey Gray (Lebanon, Ill./Lebanon) posted 23 digs, and senior middle hitter Ashley Perry (Sparta, Ill./Sparta) (Sparta, Ill./Sparta) was in on seven assisted blocks versus Ottawa.
