Box Score (ST. LOUIS, Mo., Oct. 22)—The McKendree University volleyball team stepped out of Great Lakes Valley Conference play Tuesday night to post a five-set victory Tuesday at Missouri Baptist University. The Bearcats won by scores of 25-17, 24-26, 17-25, 25-18 and 15-10.

Freshman outside hitter Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) registered a team-high 15 kills while senior outside hitter Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) added 10 kills and 19 digs to help the Bearcats rally to take the final two sets and the match. McKendree is now 6-15 overall. Tuesday's match marked the sixth time in 2013 that the Bearcats played in a five-set contest, and the team is now 4-2 in those matches.

McKendree will be in Aurora, Ill., this weekend for the GLVC/GLIAC Crossover Challenge. The Bearcats will play three Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponents in two days, beginning with an 11:30 a.m. match against Malone University. McKendree will then wrap up Friday's action with a 5:30 p.m. tussle versus the University of Findlay.

Freshman middle hitter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) also had a big night for McKendree with 11 kills and a team-high six blocks. Sophomore middle hitter Rachel Nelson (Papillion, NE/Papillion-LaVista South) connected for nine attacks and posted three assisted blocks. Freshman setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) had a team-leading 31 digs as fellow freshman setter Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) added 20 sets.

Senior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland), who surpassed the 1,000-dig mark last Friday night at Bellarmine University, matched a career-best at Missouri Baptist by handling 40 digs in the victory.

After winning the first set, McKendree was edged in the second set by Missouri Baptist before the Spartans dominated and took the middle set to grab a 2-1 lead in the match. The Bearcats battled back from an early deficit in the fourth set and used a 6-2 run to take the lead for good at 14-10. Following a Missouri Baptist point to rally within 14-11, McKendree scored five of the next six points to stretch the margin to 19-12.

McKendree never trailed in the fifth set, although the contest was tied twice in the early going. A kill by Nelson and consecutive attacks by Nesbit pushed the Bearcats out to a 10-7 advantage. The Spartans made one final run, pulling within 11-10 before McKendree closed out the come-from-behind win by scoring the final four points of the night.

Maddie Hammack led Missouri Baptist (24-5) with a match-high 19 kills, while Ally Krus handed out 51 assists on the night for the Spartans.