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(RUSSELLVILLE, Ark., Sept. 7)—The McKendree University volleyball team broke into the win column in a big way on Friday at the Arkansas Tech University Spikefest, winning a pair of matches in day one action. After outlasting the University of Central Oklahoma in four sets to open the tournament, the Bearcats stormed to a sweep of the University of Arkansas-Monticello to close the day.
 
McKendree improves to 2-4 overall and will wrap up its stay in Arkansas with two more matches on Saturday. The Bearcats will take on Lindenwood University in the first match of the day at 9 a.m. before finishing its weekend with a 1 p.m. contest against host Arkansas Tech University.
 
Head coach Lisa Orlet collected her first two collegiate head coaching victories with the Bearcats' sweep of Friday's play. She was impressed with the team effort in both contests.
 
“I think it was important to get that first win as a team, to get that monkey off our back,” said Orlet. “It was good to see the players bounce back after the loss in the second set and win a big third set. They really played well defensively and it was good to see us score off our defense. I was very pleased with the way our players battled from start to finish.”
 
A balanced attack helped propel McKendree to its victories on Friday. Freshman middle hitter Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand) collected 22 kills on the day, including 16 in the Central Oklahoma win. Freshman right-side hitter Rachel Nelson (Papillion, NE/Papillion-LaVista South) chipped in with 20 attacks, 11 of which came against Arkansas-Monticello. Junior outside hitter Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) posted 15 of her 17 kills versus Central Oklahoma.
 
Junior setter Abby Hanger (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) posted 50 of her 84 assists in the opening match, while junior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) had 22 digs in each of the two victories.
 
McKendree and Central Oklahoma split the first two sets of their match before the Bearcats scratched out a 28-26 win in the decisive third set. McKendree then took control early in the fourth  to grab their first win of the season, taking the match by scores of 25-14, 20-25, 28-26 and 25-16.
 
In the third set against Central Oklahoma, McKendree overcame an early 6-1 deficit with a 10-2 run to grab an 11-8 lead. The teams then battled back and forth until a pair of kills from Apetz pushed the Bearcats out to a 23-19 advantage. McKendree was on the doorstep of a third set victory at 24-21 befoe the Bronchos reeled off four straight points to take a 25-24 lead.
 
Following a timeout, McKendree tied the match on a kill by Nesbit before Central Oklahoma took its final lead of the set at 26-25. A Nelson kill knotted the score at 26-26 and Nesbit followed with a service ace. An attack error from Central Oklahoma gave McKendree the set victory.
 
The Bearcats rolled to a 10-4 lead in the fourth and final set and never trailed in the contest to close out the first win of 2012.
 
In the first set against Arkansas-Monticello, McKendree built an 11-4 lead before the Cotton Blossoms responded with eight unanswered points to forge a 12-11 advantage. The teams traded points before the Bearcats reeled off eight straight points to command a 23-15 lead. Freshman outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) had three kills during the spurt.
 
McKendree trailed 12-6 in the early stages of the second set until a 7-0 run pushed the Bearcats out to a 13-12 lead. McKendree built a slight lead down the stretch and held on for 25-21 win. Things started slowly for the Bearcats in the third set as Arkansas-Monticello scored the first 10 points of the contest. McKendree started to chip away at the deficit, then used three kills from junior middle hitter Mel Duncan in a four-point burst to tie the set at 19-19.
 
A block by Nelson and Apetz gave McKendree its first lead of the set at 22-21. The Cotton Blossoms tied the contest once more before consecutive kills by Apetz and another kills from Wessel finished off the 25-16, 25-21, 25-22 victory.