(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 14)—The McKendree University volleyball team dropped a 3-2 decision to the University of Findlay in its first match at the Mizuno Midwest Region Volleyball Crossover Challenge at the Great Lakes Center in Aurora, IL. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-20, 16-25, 21-25, 25-23, and 11-15.
McKendree dipped to 13-6 overall with the loss. The Bearcats return to action Saturday at 10 a.m. against Grand Valley State University.
McKendree was led offensively by junior right side
Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) who put down 11 kills while leading the team with a .333 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter
Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) posted a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. Senior right side
Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) put down nine kills, while senior middle hitter
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) added eight kills, three digs, and two blocks.
Senior setter
Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) passed out a team high 16 assists adding four digs as sophomore setter
Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) finished with nearly identical numbers dishing out 15 assists to pair with four digs. Junior middle blocker
Carissa Lorenz (New Lenox, IL/Lincoln-Way West) posted a match high six blocks, including three solos, to go with two digs. Freshman libero
Alissa Zeitelhack (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) notched 12 digs from the back row for McKendree.
The Bearcats led wire to wire in the first set as Williams and Fairman got the scoring started with a kill each to give McKendree a 3-1 lead before an ace from Williams moved the Bearcats in front 5-2. The Oilers responded by taking three of the next four points to pull within one at 6-5, but McKendree a pair of service errors and an ace from Melchert to move back in front 9-6. Williams and Fairman each added a kill as the lead moved to 11-8, before a 4-0 run allowed McKendree to extend the lead to 17-12. Findlay got a pair of points back with a 3-1 run, but couldn't make up enough ground down the stretch as the Bearcats took the first set by five.
The teams exchanged points as set two opened to an early 4-4 score. The Oilers strung together a 4-1 run to move in front 10-7 and followed with another scoring spree of 5-1 to take 16-10 advantage. The second set continued to swing in favor of Findlay as they scored six of the next eight points to close out the second set and tie the match at 1-1.
McKendree responded in the third set using a kill from Fairman and back to back aces from Lorenz to take an early 4-1 lead. The Oilers countered with an 8-2 run to bolt ahead 11-7. The Bearcats used kills from Geiger and Schneider to spark a 3-0 run and cut the lead to one, but Findlay matched it with three straight to push the lead back to four. The Oilers extended the lead to 20-15, but McKendree wouldn't go away quietly as they used a kill from Geiger to start a 4-1 run that trimmed the lead to 21-19 and forced a timeout from Findlay. The Oilers scored the first two points after the stoppage to halt the momentum and closed out the third set by four.
The teams continued to jockey for the lead in the fourth trading points as a kill from Fairman and an ace from Zeitelhack paced a three point run for the Bearcats only to see the Oilers bounce back scoring three of four points to tie the set at 8-8. The teams continued to trade blows as McKendree tallied another 3-0 run with a kill from freshman outside hitter
Kelly Voss (St. Rose, IL/Mater Dei ) and an ace from Williams to pull ahead 15-14. Another kill from Voss pushed the Bearcats ahead 18-16, but Findlay would later respond with three straight points to capture a 22-21 lead. Geiger rallied the Bearcats with back to back kills before a block from Lorenz and a kill from Voss closed out the set and forced a fifth set.
The fifth set was back and forth as Findlay used a kill and a block to go up 4-2 before utilizing a 3-1 run to prod ahead 7-4. McKendree wouldn't be out done as the Bearcats took four of the next five points with kills from Geiger and Fairman to tie the set at eight. It was a close as McKendree would come to taking the lead as the Oilers took three of four points to go in front 13-10 before closing the match with back to back points.
