(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 14) – The McKendree University women's volleyball team dropped a four-set decision to the University of Southern Indiana Saturday afternoon in Evansville, IN. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-18, 22-25, 18-25, and 19-25.

The loss drops McKendree to 21-10 overall and 15-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats finish tied for first place in the GLVC East Division with Lewis University. McKendree holds a head to head advantage over the Flyers after defeating them in five sets on Oct. 24 to earn the top seed in the GLVC East.

The Bearcats were led by sophomore outside hitter Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) who had a career high 16 kills along with three digs and two blocks. Fellow sophomore outside hitter Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) tallied 11 kills and 14 digs as the only other Bearcat to reach double digits in kills. Junior middle hitter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) finished third in kills with seven.

Junior setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) paced McKendree in assists with 25 while adding five digs. Freshman setter Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) passed out 22 of her own to pair with 15 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Maria Rasch (Kenosha, WI/Westosha Central) hit .364 with five kills on 11 attempts and senior right side hitter Lauren Apetz (Glenwood, FL/DeLand) put down five kills on eight tries.

McKendree started hot using a six point run to jump out in front 7-4 including back to back kills from Geiger. After the teams traded kills McKendree used a pair of kills from red shirt junior Hannah Wessel (Waterloo, IL/Gibault Catholic) and Williams to extend the lead to 14-8. After a handful of points Geiger once again put down back to back kills to take a 20-13 lead allowing the Bearcats to cruise to seven point win in the first set.

The Eagles stormed back in set two streaking out to a 10-1 lead. The Bearcats rallied to cut the lead to four at 14-10 with help from Williams who posted three kills on the run. Southern Indiana held steady as the set moved to 16-12 before a six point run to open a 10 point lead. Once again McKendree clawed back utilizing an eight point run, but it was too little too late as the Eagles took set two by three.

Southern Indiana jumped out in front again in taking a 9-3 lead. The teams traded punches until the Bearcats landed three straight points to cut the lead to three. The Eagles outdueled McKendree down the stretch taking set four by seven points.

Southern Indiana capitalized on six Bearcat errors to take a 15-6 lead in set four. McKendree worked back, cutting the lead to five points at 22-17, but couldn't overcome the early deficit falling in the fourth set by six.

McKendree returns to action on Nov. 20 at 2:30 p.m. against an opponent yet to be determined in the GLVC tournament in Peoria, IL.