Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 28)—The McKendree University volleyball team used a solid hitting night to register a three-set sweep Tuesday night at home against the University of Illinois Springfield. The Bearcats took the best-of-five match by scores of 25-15, 25-15 and 25-20.
McKendree has taken four of its last five matches to improve to 15-10 overall while improving its GLVC mark to 9-5 on the year. The Bearcats will continue its home stand Saturday afternoon with a conference match against Rockhurst University. First serve is set for 5 p.m. at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
As a team, McKendree had a .382 hitting percentage in Tuesday's match, including a .500 mark in the first set. Junior right-side hitter
Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand) led the offensive attack for the Bearcats with a match-high 12 kills and a sizzling .579 hitting percentage. Sophomore middle hitter
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) put down 11 kills and hit .450 for the match, while freshman outside hitter
Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) also had 11 attacks with nine digs in the win for McKendree. Senior outside hitter
Kelsey Johnson (Aviston, IL/Breese Central) narrowly missed double figures in kills with nine.
Sophomore setter
Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) handed out a match-high 25 assists in the effort, while sophomore setter
Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) collected 17 assists while serving up three consecutive aces in the first set to aid the McKendree victory. Senior
Abby Hanger (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) matched Howe with three aces while handling a team-leading 12 digs in the contest.
In the first set, McKendree grabbed an early lead before Howe served up her three straight aces to push the Bearcats out to a 7-2 advantage. McKendree continued to add to its lead thanks in part to its solid hitting performance in the opening set. The Bearcats had 16 kills and just two errors on their 28 attempts for the .500 percentage in building a 1-0 lead in the match.
The second set was tied early before McKendree ripped off six consecutive points to race out to a 10-4 lead. Illinois Springfield (8-15, 1-13 GLVC) clawed back within 10-7 when the Bearcats took control of the set, scoring six of the next seven points to extend the margin to 16-8. McKendree was able to post another double-digit win to take a two-set lead into the intermission.
It appeared McKendree was on its way to another big lead in the third set when Illinois Springfield used a 6-2 run to rally within 16-14. The teams traded points before a kill from Williams sparked a run of three straight points to push the Bearcats out to a 20-15 lead. Williams, Johnson and Fairman each had a kill to account for the Bearcats' final three points to complete the season sweep of Illinois Springfield. McKendree posted a four-set victory over the Prairie Stars back on Sept. 30 in Springfield, Ill.
Haley Maxwell and Nikki Madoch each had eight kills to lead Illinois Springfield, while Rachelle Wiegand handed out 14 assists in the contest for the Prairie Stars.
