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(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 11)--The McKendree University volleyball team will begin the Great Lakes Valley Conference portion of its 2014 schedule this weekend with road matches in St. Louis. The Bearcats will open with a 7 p.m. match on Saturday at Maryville University before heading to the University of Missouri-St. Louis Sunday at 1 p.m.
McKendree won three of its four matches last weekend at the Dunn Hospitality Classic hosted by the University of Southern Indiana in Evansville. All three of the Bearcats' victories were sweeps in the best-of-five contests, while the lone loss was a five-set thriller against the University of North Alabama. Freshman outside hitter
Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) had the hot hand offensively, leading the team with 52 kills in the four matches. Sophomore middle hitter
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) picked up All-Tournament honors by collected 40 kills and 14 blocks at the net. Junior right-side hitter
Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand), who missed the first month of the 2013 season due to injury, also had a strong start with 28 attacks.
Returning following a redshirt season in 2013, senior setter
Abby Hanger (Belleville, IL/Belleville West) handed out 98 assists last weekend for McKendree, while sophomore setter
Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) was close behind with 64 sets. Williams served up six aces and senior outside hitter
Kelsey Johnson (Aviston, IL/Breese Central) contributed five aces on the weekend.
ABOUT MARYVILLE --The Saints bring a 3-2 overall record into Saturday's contest with McKendree. Maryville last played on Tuesday evening at home, falling to Missouri Baptist University in three sets. Ashley Selman leads the offensive attack for the Saints with 49 kills and a .304 hitting percentage. Selman also has a team-leading 28 blocks. Hana Michael is next with 42 attacks while Maddie Timmerman is close behind with 39 kills. Taryn Trubich leads the team with 85 sets while Hannah Seitter has distributed 74 assists. Ali Lampen has handled 100 digs through the first five contests for Maryville.
McKendree won the 2013 meeting with Maryville, 3-2, on Sept. 22 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.
Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) paced the Bearcats with 16 kills while
Taylor Voss (Breese, IL/Breese Central) and
Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) each delivered 14 attacks.
Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) had a team-best 32 assists in the win, while Voss put up five blocks against the Saints. Laura Welling led Maryville with 16 kills and Ali Lampen notched 36 assists.
ABOUT MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS --The Tritons head into the weekend's action with an overall record of 3-1. Like McKendree, UMSL opened its 2014 season with four matches at the Dunn Hospitality Classic. The Tritons defeated Ohio Dominican University, Hillsdale College and the University of North Alabama over the two days. Hailey Brightwell leads a balanced attack for UMSL with 33 kills, while Jory Siebenmorgan is next with 30 attacks. Carly Ochs and Hannah Miller have each put down 28 kills for the Tritons. Jessica Ploss had registered nine blocks for the Tritons, while Lindsay Meyer has handed out a team-high 131 assists on the year. Meyer also has five service aces through the first four matches for UMSL.In the 2013 meeting between the two schools, UMSL posted a 3-1 victory over McKendree.
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) led the way for the Bearcats with 17 kills while
Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) chipped in with 10 attacks.
Rebecca Nauman (Yorkville, IL/Yorkville) dished out 29 assists and
Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) had 21 in the effort. Chelsea Burkle put down a match-high 21 kills to pace the Tritons.
WHAT'S NEXT --McKendree will play its first home matches of the 2014 season Sept. 19-20 at the Statham Center, hosting a trio of schools. The Bearcats will open with a GLVC tilt against Quincy University on Friday, Sept. 19 at 4 p.m. On Saturday, Sept. 20, McKendree will take on Truman State University in an 11 a.m. contest before closing out the weekend with a 6:30 p.m. non-conference match-up with West Texas A & M University.
