(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 28)—The McKendree University volleyball cruised to a 3-0 sweep over Great Lakes Valley Conference foe Maryville University Friday evening. The Bearcats won by scores of 25-18, 25-9, and 25-15.
McKendree moves to 15-9 overall with the win and 10-2 in GLVC play. The Bearcats return to action tomorrow afternoon with a 3 p.m. tilt against the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
McKendree was paced by junior outside hitter
Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) who put down a match high eight kills to go with 15 digs and three blocks. Senior middle blocker
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) notched seven kills while hitting .438 to pair with a match high seven blocks. Freshman outside hitter
Kelly Voss (St. Rose, IL/Mater Dei ) tallied six kills and four digs, while junior right side
Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) and freshman middle hitter
Megan Marks (Colgate, WI/Germantown) each tagged five kills.
Senior setter
Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) dished out a match high 13 assists to pair with five digs, sophomore setter
Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) added nine assists, and senior setter
Rebecca Nauman (Yorkville, IL/Yorkville) chipped in eight assists for the Bearcats. Senior right sides
Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) and
Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) each put down three kills, and freshman libero
Alissa Zeitelhack (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) stuck seven digs and tabbed four assists from the back row as McKendree held Maryville to -.010 attacking.
The Saints took advantage of some sloppy play early using three kills and three attack errors to take a 6-3 lead. Geiger and Voss responded by bookending a 4-0 run to give the Bearcats their first lead of the night at 8-7. Maryville briefly reclaimed the lead at 10-8, but McKendree tallied back to back 4-0 runs to scoot ahead 16-12 before a pair of kills from Williams started another 3-0 spree to give the Bearcats a 19-13 edge. The Saints were able to capture five of the next eight points, but couldn't muster the comeback and fell by seven in the first set.
The second set was all McKendree as Williams put down a pair of kills to open up 5-1. Marks then landed a back to back kills to start a run of six straight that was capped with a pair of aces from Williams. The Bearcats used three more runs of at least three points and strolled to a 16-point win to take a 2-0 lead.
Maryville came out strong after intermission taking the first five points of the third set before moving ahead 7-3. McKendree rallied to tie at 9-9 before taking the lead 10-9 with a 6-1 run. The Bearcats followed up by taking seven of the next eight points to push ahead 17-11 before closing out the match with a five to one run to complete the 3-0 sweep.
