BOX SCORE

(Lebanon, IL. Oct. 24)--The McKendree University women's volleyball team battled No. 18 Lewis University for five hard-fought sets on Saturday and were able to hold off the Flyers in a pivotal Great Lakes Valley Conference match. The Bearcats took the match by scores of 29-31, 31-29, 25-13, 22-25 and 15-12.

The Bearcats improve to 15-8 overall and 9-2 in the GLVC. McKendree is now just one game behind Lewis in the East Division. The Bearcats will head on the road for a trio of matches starting Tuesday with their final non-conference matchup of the year against Lindenwood University in St. Charles, MO.

Sophomore outside hitter Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) led the charge for McKendree with 18 kills and 22 digs. The Bearcats turned to her for the majority of the match as Williams put up 51 attacks. Senior right side Taylor Voss (Breese, IL/Breese Central) also had an excellent day putting down 15 kills while adding seven blocks and four digs. Junior outside hitter Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) had nine kills and 10 digs, and sophomore Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) added nine kills as well.
 

Freshman setter Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) had a team high 29 assists and 13 digs for McKendree, while junior setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) had 24 of her own to pair with seven digs. Sophomore middle blocker tallied seven blocks while sophomore libero Ashly Schmitt (Johnsburg, IL/Johnsburg) added 11 digs to aid the Bearcats defensively.

The tops two teams in the GLVC East wouldn't disappoint as the match lived up to the hype from the very first set. The teams traded runs early on after Lewis jumped out to 5-2 lead. Three straight points tied the match at five before the Flyers responded with four straight points of their own. McKendree rattled off the next five points with a pair of kills from Voss and junior outside hitter Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) to take their first lead of the match 10-9. After Lewis reclaimed a 13-12 lead the Bearcats went on an 8-3 run to open a four point lead.  The lead was short lived after a four point spree from Lewis tied the match at 20. The teams traded points and found the set tied at 25 heading into an extended set. The Bearcats pushed the Flyers to the brink at 27-26 and 28-27, but could not find a way to halt Lewis. The Flyers took four of the final five points to clinch the first set by two.

McKendree responded by capturing an early 4-1 lead in the second set, but Lewis roared back with six straight points taking a three point advantage. The Bearcats clawed back with a four point run to take an 11-10 lead, started on a kill by Schneider, followed by three straight Flyer attacking errors. With the match tied at 14 McKendree put down four kills in a row including three straight from Williams. Lewis would cut that advantage to just one after three straight errors from the Bearcats making it 20-19. After an attack error from Lewis, the Flyers would take the next four points to open a two point lead. Four straight kills, three in favor of McKendree tied the match at 24. The teams exchanged points at 25, 26, 27, and 28 before the Bearcats ended the second consecutive marathon set with three straight kills from Voss, Geiger, and Schneider to tie the match at one.

After taking momentum back in the second set McKendree streaked through the third set with a 12 point win. Voss shined with seven kills in the set, along with four from Williams.

Lewis would not go away without a fight as they responded in the fourth set. The Flyers opened up a 14-9 lead midway through the set, the Bearcats admirably battled back cutting the lead to two points at 16-14 before the teams exchanged three point runs giving Lewis a 19-17 advantage. McKendree was able to cut the lead to one at 20-19, but could not find a way to snag the lead and dropped the fourth set by three points.