Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 2)—The McKendree University volleyball team won for the seventh time in nine matches in a three-set sweep Friday at home against Kentucky Wesleyan College.
 
Freshman middle hitter Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand) collected a match-high 14 kills while junior outside hitter Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) added 12 attacks as the Bearcats finished off a season sweep of the visiting Panthers. McKendree improves to 14-14 overall and climbs above the .500 mark for the first time as members of the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats are now 8-7 in conference play.
 
McKendree will wrap up the home portion of its 2012 schedule Saturday at 3 p.m. when it hosts the University of Southern Indiana in a GLVC match. Prior to the contest, the Bearcats will honor the lone senior on their roster – defensive specialist Laura Payne (Rockville, IN/Rockville) – in a pre-match ceremony.
 
Freshman right-side hitter Rachel Nelson (Papillion, NE/Papillion-LaVista South) helped out in the victory against Kentucky Wesleyan with eight kills and four blocks with one solo. Freshman outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) contributed seven attacks, while junior setter Abby Hanger (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) handed out a match-best 36 assists. Junior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) chipped in with 17 digs as junior hitter Meghan Dohogne (Cape Girardeau, MO/Notre Dame Regional) handled 12 digs.
 
The Bearcats played from behind in each of the first two sets, overcoming seven-point deficits in each contest. Kentucky Wesleyan (10-20, 3-12 GLVC) jumped out to a 16-9 advantage before McKendree reeled off eight of the next nine points to tie the set at 17-17. The Bearcats scored the last six points of the spurt, fueled by a pair of kills from Apetz. The teams then traded points until Apetz put down two more kills to break a 23-23 tie and give the first set to the Bearcats.
 
McKendree fell behind 13-6 in the early stages of the second set when the Bearcats used another big rally to tie the contest. Wessel had four of her seven kills during a 10-3 run that enabled McKendree to pull even at 16-16. A kill by Nesbit pushed the Bearcats to their first lead of the set at 19-18 as McKendree slowly pulled away to take a two-set lead over the Panthers.
 
Unlike the first two sets, McKendree never trailed in the third set. The Bearcats built a 14-7 lead and later stretched the margin to as many as eight points in finishing off the sweep.
 
Bridget Johnson put down a team-best 10 kills to lead Kentucky Wesleyan, while Jordan Rickert added 27 assists. McKendree also defeated the Panthers three sets to two back on Sept. 15 in Owensboro, Ky. That win was the first for the Bearcats as members of the GLVC.