(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 7)—The McKendree University volleyball team pulled off a come from behind rally to escape with a 3-2 victory over the University of Indianapolis in a Great Lakes Valley Conference match up Friday evening. The Bearcats won by scores of 23-25, 19-25, 25-18, 25-14, and 15-7.

The win moves McKendree to 12-5 overall and 7-1 in the GLVC this season. The Bearcats return to action tomorrow afternoon at 3 p.m. against Saint Joseph's College.

The Bearcats deployed a balanced offensive attack highlighted by a match high 16 kills from junior outside hitter Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) to go with a match high 20 digs. Senior right side Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) putt down 15 kills with a .406 attack percentage adding four digs and five blocks. Senior middle hitter Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) recorded a team high .562 attack percentage going 11-16 with one dig and two blocks. Junior right side Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) also reached double digit kills with 13 while putting up three digs and three blocks.

Senior setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) dished out a team high 31 assists to pair with 14 digs. Sophomore setter Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) chipped in 26 assists of her own to go with four digs. Junior middle blocker Carissa Lorenz (New Lenox, IL/Lincoln-Way West) landed three kills while putting down a match high nine blocks. Freshman libero Alissa Zeitelhack (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) stuck 16 digs from the back row as McKendree held the Greyhounds to a .155 attack percentage.

The Bearcats started off on the right foot as Williams, Schneider, Fairman and Geiger all put down kills as McKendree took an early 8-6 lead. Indianapolis rallied to tie the set at 12-12, but the Bearcats responded with three straight kills from Fairman, Geiger, and Williams before going on to take six of the next seven points to go up 18-13. The run was short lived as the Greyhounds outscored McKendree 8-3 to tie the match at 20. Fairman and Geiger put down back to back kills to give the Bearcats a two-point edge at 23-21, but Indianapolis scored the final four points of the set to take a 1-0 lead.

McKendree continued to hit at a high percentage early in the second set as senior outside hitter Bailey Kampwerth (Breese, IL/Mater Dei) opened the scoring for the Bearcats. Fairman followed up with three kills in the next four points before Schneider and Geiger added kills to give McKendree a 7-6 lead. The Greyhounds were able to string a 7-2 run together to push in front 13-9 before extending the lead to 17-12. Schneider and Geiger each added another kill as the Bearcats cut the lead to three at 19-16. The deficit remained three at 21-18 as Indianapolis secured four of the final five points to take a commanding 2-0 lead heading into intermission.

The Greyhounds looked sharp in the early stages of the third set using a three point run to take a 10-8 lead. Freshman outside hitter Kelly Voss (St. Rose, IL/Mater Dei ) and Schneider landed back to back kills as McKendree tried to capture the momentum tying the match at 10-10. After dropping a point to surrender the lead back to Indianapolis the Bearcats rattled off six straight points including three straight kills from Williams and a pair of kills from Schneider to jump in front 16-11. The Greyhounds cut the lead to 17-13, but it was as close as they would come to regaining the lead as McKendree took seven of the next eight points and rolled to a seven-point win in the third set.

The Bearcats picked up where they left off in the fourth set jumping out in front 5-1. Indianapolis struck back with four straight points to even the set at 5-5 before the teams traded kills as the set moved to 8-8. Lorenz put down a kill to spark a 4-0 run for the Bearcats as McKendree moved in front 12-8. The Bearcats extended the lead to 15-10 before the Greyhounds tagged a 3-1 run to pull within three at 16-13. Fairman and Williams put down a pair of kills that started a 7-0 run capped off by back to back kills from Fairman and Voss to give McKendree a 23-13 edge as the Bearcats rolled to an 11-point win and forced a decisive fifth set.  

The Bearcats opened the first to 15 race of set five with three straight kills that included a pair from Williams. Williams added two more kills as the score moved to 6-4 in favor of McKendree. The Bearcats put the match away with a 6-0 run that included kills from Fairman, Geiger, and Voss as McKendree completed the comeback with an eight-point win in the final set.