Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 21)—Despite a season-high 17 kills from freshman middle hitter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton), the McKendree University volleyball team lost to the University of Missouri-St. Louis on Saturday at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The Bearcats dropped the contest by scores of 22-25, 25-21, 19-25 and 23-25.
 
McKendree, which was playing in its first home match of the 2013 season, was kicking off its Great Lakes Valley       Conference schedule. The Bearcats slip to 1-8 overall and 0-1 in the GLVC. McKendree will look to bounce back on Sunday when it hosts Maryville University in a GLVC match set for a 1 p.m. first serve.
 
Sophomore outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) contributed 10 kills and nine digs for McKendree, while senior outside hitter Maureen Nesbit (Belleville, IL/Althoff Catholic) helped out with seven attacks and 14 digs. Senior libero Maddie Kelly (Lake Saint Louis, MO/Timberland) handled a team-best 19 digs for the Bearcats. Freshman setters Rebecaa Nauman and Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) combined for 50 assists in the match as Nauman led the way with 29 sets.
     
Trailing 19-17 in the first set, McKendree used consecutive kills by Wessel, sophomore right-side hitter Taylor Voss (Breese, IL/Breese Central) and junior middle hitter Trina Isaak (Highland, IL/Highland) to grab a 20-19 advantage. The contest remained tight until Missouri-St. Louis (6-4, 2-0 GLVC) notched back-to-back kills to seal the first-set win.
 
McKendree led for most of the second set, although the Tritons managed to forge a tie twice in the later stages. Wessel then sandwiched kills around an attack by Nauman and an UMSL hitting error for a 4-0 run to grab a 24-20 advantage. Following an UMSL score, Nesbit helped the Bearcats pull even with a kill to close out the second set.
 
After UMSL slowly pulled away down the stretch to grab the third set and a 2-1 lead in the match, McKendree controlled the early portion of the fourth set. A kill by Fairman capped a 4-1 run that gave the Bearcats a 15-10 lead. The Tritons pulled even at 17-17 before a kill from Nesbit gave McKendree its final lead of the night at 18-17. UMSL was able to hold off the Bearcats down the stretch to collect the win.
 
Chelsea Burkle had a match-high 21 kills to lead the way for Missouri-St. Louis.