Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 (WARRENSBURG, Mo., Sept. 14)—The McKendree University volleyball team was defeated in both of its matches on Saturday during the final day of play at the 2013 Peggy Martin Challenge, which was hosted by the University of Central Missouri. The Bearcats were swept in their early match against the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs before dropping a four-set decision to Minnesota State University-Moorhead in the finale.

McKendree slips to 1-7 on the year and will make its home debut next Saturday (Sept. 21) by hosting the University of Missouri-St. Louis at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. First serve for the match, which is the 2013 Great Lakes Valley Conference opener for the Bearcats, is set for 5 p.m.

Freshman outside hitter Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) paced McKendree with 18 kills on the day. She registered 11 attacks in the contest against Minnesota State-Moorhead. Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) added 12 kills on the day, while freshman middle hiiter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) reached double digits in the kills department with 10.

Senior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) handled 32 digs in the back row, and freshman setter Rebecca Nauman (Yorkville, IL/Yorkville) helped out with 41 assists on the day.

Against Colorado-Colorado Springs, McKendree was able to grab leads early in each of the final two sets before the Mountain Lions rallied in each contest to sweep away the Bearcats. Colorado-Colorado Springs won by scores of 25-17, 25-21 and 25-17.

In set two, McKendree led for a majority of the contest, taking its largest advantage at 18-13 thanks to a service ace by Kelly. The Mountain Lions battled back, scoring the next four points to trim its deficit to just one point. The teams traded points before UCCS closed the set by scoring seven of the final eight points to rally for the win.

The Bearcats scratched out an early lead in the third set before Colorado-Colorado Springs knotted the contest at 9-9. McKendree was able to forge one final lead before the Mountain Lions took the lead for good with a 7-0 run to grab a 16-10 advantage.

Fairman, Kampwerth and Wessel all had seven kills to share team-high honors for the Bearcats. Kelly had 16 digs while Nauman handed out 20 assists.

In the match with Minnesota State-Moorhead, McKendree dropped the first two sets before fighting back to take the third set. However, the Dragons quickly regained their momentum to take the fourth set and the match, winning by scores of 25-17, 25-16, 19-25 and 25-16.

McKendree dominated the tempo of the third set, leading for most of the contest. The Bearcats led by as many as four points in the early stages before Minnesota State-Moorhead knotted the contest at 11-11. The set was tied on five more occasions before a kill by Wessel put McKendree in front to stay.

The momentum from the third set spilled over into the opening moments of the fourth set, when McKendree raced out to a 7-2 advantage. But the Dragons used a 10-2 run to steal the lead back at 12-9. The Bearcats tied the match three more times before MSU-Moorhead pulled away down the stretch to seal the win.

In addition to Kampwerth's 11 kills, sophomore hitter Taylor Voss (Breese, IL/Breese Central) added six attacks while Wessel notched five kills. Kelly had 16 digs for the second straight match, and Nauman contributed 21 assists.