Box Score (ROMEOVILLE, Ill., Sept. 28)—The McKendree University volleyball program dropped a three-set match on Friday at Lewis University. The host Flyers swept the Bearcats by scores of 25-19, 25-21 and 25-23.
 
With the loss, McKendree tumbles to 6-9 overall and 2-4 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play. The Bearcats will wrap up its weekend road trip Saturday afternoon with a GLVC match at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. First serve is set for 3 p.m. in Kenosha, Wis.
 
At Lewis, freshman outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) continued her strong play of late by leading McKendree with 13 kills. Junior outside hitter Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) contributed 11 kills and 11 digs, while junior setter Abby Hanger (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) handed out a team-high 34 assists. Junior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) registered a match-high 17 digs for the Bearcats.
 
McKendree stayed close with Lewis (9-6, 5-1 GLVC) in all three sets. In the first set, the Flyers grabbed an early 7-3 lead before the Bearcats rallied with 13-12 at the midway point. Lewis slowly pulled away and used a 5-1 run to build its largest lead at 23-16. McKendree reeled off the next three points – which included kills by Wessel and freshman middle hitter Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand) – to battle back within 23-19 before Lewis scored the last two points to finish off the set.
 
In the early stages of the second set, McKendree controlled the tempo, using a pair of service aces from Hanger to take a 7-3 advantage. The Flyers fought back to seize the lead midway through the set at 15-14. McKendree quickly matched the tempo by tying the set on four different occasions, the last coming at 18-18 thanks to a Lewis service error. But the Flyers scored the next four points and never trailed the remainder of the set.
 
McKendree scored six straight points early in the third set to take a 10-7 lead as Kelly recorded consecutive aces to close the stretch. After Lewis tied the contest at 11-11, the Bearcats regained the lead, and a kill from Apetz off a pass from Hanger pushed McKendree to its largest lead of the night at 18-14. Once again, the Flyers put together a rally and grabbed the lead at 22-20. Consecutive kills by Wessel tied the score one more time before the Flyers took control late for the victory.
 
Jen Krumwieide and Carly Perschnick each posted 13 kills to lead Lewis, which won its fifth consecutive match at home. Leigh Barea handed out 37 assists in the effort for the Flyers. McKendree and Lewis will meet again Oct. 27 at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.