WILLIAM JEWELL -- LIVE STATS
ROCKHURST -- LIVE VIDEO | LIVE STATS
(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 8)--The McKendree University volleyball team will begin its final road stretch of the 2013 season by heading west for a pair of Great Lakes Valley Conference matches over the weekend. The Bearcats will first visit Liberty, Mo., on Saturday for a 5 p.m. contest at William Jewell College before wrapping up the weekend with a Sunday match at Rockhurst University. Match time at Rockhurst is 1 p.m.
McKendree has picked the right time of the year to play some of its best volleyball of the 2013 season. The Bearcats have won their last three matches and five of six to boost their overall record to 10-16. McKendree is now 5-8 in GLVC play and sits in sixth place in the East Division. The Bearcats are just two games out of the final playoff spot and with five GLVC contests remaining, there is still time for McKendree to make a post-season push.
Last weekend at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, McKendree outlasted Drury University in five sets before sweeping past Missouri S & T in three. Freshman
Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) and senior
Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) combined for 47 kills on the weekend in leading the offensive attack for the Bearcats. Senior
Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) moved up one more spot on the Bearcats' career list for digs. She is now fourth all-time at McKendree with 1,173 digs, which is one more than Courtney Aldridge collected during her four seasons with the Bearcats from 2004-07.
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL: The Cardinals are 4-23 overall and have a 2-11 record in GLVC play. William Jewell has dropped its last three contests. Sophomore outside hitter Kaylee Marquardt paces the offense for William Jewell with 219 kills. She also has 13 service aces, 194 digs and 32 blocks. Junior outside hitter Libby Ording has chipped in with 190 attacks and a team-leading 65 blocks. Senior setter Cailynn Hayter leads the Cardinals with 560 assists, while senior libero Katie Damgar anchors the back row with 430 digs.
McKendree and William Jewell have not met on the volleyball court since the 2006 season, when the squads faced off on three separate occasions. The Cardinals won all three meetings, including a five-set marathon over the Bearcats in the NAIA Region V Tournament.
ABOUT ROCKHURST: The Hawks are currently tied for the lead in the GLVC West Division at 11-2. Rockhurst is 21-5 on the year and holds the longest current win streak in the conference at five matches. Sophomore setter Whitney Kostal leads the GLVC in assists with 1034, averaging better than 11 per set. Freshman outside hitter Morgan Rietzke has put down a team-leading 324 kills which is right at 3.5 per set. Sophomore outside hitter Katie Loescher is next with 250 attacks and tops the squad with 88 blocks (14 solos). Senior libero Victoria Mahl has handled 471 digs for the Hawks and also leads the team with 24 service aces.
Following this weekend's road trip, McKendree will play its final regular-season match away from Lebanon on Tuesday at the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats will close the 2013 regular season with home tilts against the University of Wisconsin-Parkside and Lewis University.
