(Aurora, IL. October 16)—The McKendree University volleyball split a pair of matches Friday in the Midwest Regional Crossover. The Bearcats dropped a four set decision Friday morning to Ferris State University in the opening match by scores of 16-25, 22-25, 25-23, and 19-25. McKendree rebounded in the second match against Saginaw Valley State University with a four set win 22-25, 25-19, 26-24, and 25-19.

The Bearcats are now 13-7 overall and 7-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference play.

Junior outside hitter Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) notched a double-double to lead the Bearcats with 12 kills and 12 digs against Ferris State. Senior right side Taylor Voss (Breese, IL/Breese Central) went 10-21 from the field adding five blocks and three digs, while junior middle hitter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) put down 11 kills for a .476 attack percentage along with four blocks for McKendree.
Junior setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) also tabbed a double-double, passing out 24 assists and 16 digs for the Bearcats. Sophomore outside hitter Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) tallied eight kills and 13 digs, and junior libero Breanna Howe (Mt. Pulaski, IL/Mt. Pulaski) tied for a team high with 16 digs from the back row to aid McKendree defensively.

The Bearcats jumped out to an early lead in the opening set 6-1, including a pair of kills from Schneider. Ferris State responded with back to back runs of five points to take 10 of the next 12 points from McKendree. The Bearcats cut the lead to one taking three of the next four points with kills by Schneider and Williams, but the Bulldogs would not relinquish the lead down the stretch as they clinched the first set by nine.

Ferris State came out hot in the second set taking the first four points. McKendree cut the lead to one with a kill from Fairman and three offensive errors from the Bulldogs. McKendree used a balanced attack to take six of eight points from Ferris State with four kills from four different Bearcats. The run evened the match at 11 after McKendree trailed 9-5. The teams traded blows as the match tied at 12, 14, and 16 points, but McKendree could not find a way to take the lead. Ferris State extended their lead to three at 22-19, resulting in the teams trading runs and the Bearcats cutting the lead to one at 22-21. The Bulldogs regrouped with a timeout and held off McKendree to seal the second set by three.

The third set was another heated affair as the teams traded the first 16 points of the set to find the set tied 8-8. Ferris State went on five point run to open their first lead of the set 14-9. The Bulldogs extended that lead to six leading 18-12 before the Bearcats came charging back. McKendree took seven of eight points to tie the match at 19 with kills from Voss, Fairman, Williams, and senior middle hitter Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand). Ferris State responded with four straight points putting both the set and the match in jeopardy. The Bearcats would not go down so easily and rallied off the final six points to take the third set by two.

The Bulldogs came out firing in the fourth set with three straight kills to take an early 4-1 lead. The teams traded points before McKendree used a three point run of its own to cut into the lead. Ferris State was able to keep the Bearcats at an arm's length as McKendree never overcame the early lead and the Bulldogs clinched the deciding set by six points.

Apetz led the charge coming off the bench for the Bearcats in the second match with 15 kills, hitting at a .480 clip. Schneider and Williams both had double-doubles for McKendree, as Schneider put down 16 kills and 19 digs, while Williams tallied 10 kills and a match high 20 digs. Sophomore outside hitter Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) also reached double digits in kills putting down 10 for the Bearcats. Junior setter Rebecca Nauman (Yorkville, IL/Yorkville) paced McKendree with 25 assists, and added nine digs.

The Bearcats took advantage of some sloppy play early on from the Cardinals, with three of the first four points coming off of attack errors. The set swayed back and forth to each side with 11 ties and four lead changes. Schneider put down seven kills in the first set to aid McKendree, but the Bearcats fell just short dropping the first set by three points.

McKendree fell behind early in the second set 8-4, before responding with a four point run, with kills from Apetz and Schneider. The Bearcats rallied off five runs of at least three points in the second set including a three kill streak from Apetz to put McKendree up 19-16. Apetz totaled seven kills in the set helping the Bearcats edge Saginaw by six.

Each team had a slew of runs in set three, starting with a four point run from McKendree to take an early 7-5 lead. The Cardinals took the next five points to go up 10-7. The Bearcats responded with four straight points thanks in part to kills from Apetz and Schneider. The teams traded points and found the set tied at 13 before McKendree put down four straight points with two kills coming from Fairman. Saginaw rebutted with a three point run to cut the lead to 17-16. The Bearcats found themselves up by two before the Cardinals bolted ahead after three straight errors from McKendree. The Bearcats stormed back with three points of their own to retake the lead before Saginaw used an ace to tie the match at 24. The Cardinals collapsed with back to back errors to drop the third set by two.

McKendree used the momentum to jump out to a 15-5 lead in set four with a pair of kills from Williams, along with a kill a piece from Schneider, Apetz, Geiger, and Sophomore middle blocker Carrisa Lorenz. Saginaw tried to rally with a five point run, but could not recover from the early success of the Bearcats who clinched the deciding set by six points.

The Bearcats return to action Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. against Ashland University in the final match of the Midwest Crossover Challenge.