(LEBANON, Ill., Nov. 8)—The McKendree University volleyball team rolled to a 3-0 win over the University of Illinois-Springfield in a midweek Great Lakes Valley Conference matchup. The Bearcats won by scores of 25-14, 25-18, and 25-20.

The win bumps the McKendree to 19-9 overall and 14-2 in the GLVC. The Bearcats wrap up the regular season this weekend with a pair of home matches starting Friday night with a 7 p.m. contest against Bellarmine University before closing out the regular season Saturday against the University of Southern Indiana on Senior Day.

McKendree was paced offensively by junior outside hitter Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) who connected on 13 of 24 attempts for a .458 attack percentage. Williams also tallied six digs and two blocks. Senior middle blocker Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) posted a match high .600 attack percentage after putting down 10 kills adding two blocks. Senior outside hitter Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) also notched 10 kills to go with five digs.

Senior setter Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) handed out a match high 19 assists and sophomore setter Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) dished out 16 of her own for McKendree. Junior middle blocker Carissa Lorenz (New Lenox, IL/Lincoln-Way West) put down six kills and added five blocks and freshman libero Alissa Zeitelhack (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) stuck 13 digs from the back row as McKendree held the Prairie Stars to just a .080 attack percentage.

Lorenz put down two blocks and added one kill to jump start the Bearcats to a 6-0 lead in the first set. Illinois-Springfield clawed back with to cut the lead to 8-5, but McKendree countered with four straight kill as Fairman and Schneider put down a pair each. The Bearcats used two more 3-0 runs to close out the first set by 11 points.

The Prairie Stars hung tough early in the second set as the teams traded points, but McKendree still led 9-7 after Fairman and Williams each scored two kills apiece. Junior right side Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) along and Williams extended the margin to four with a pair of kills before Schneider and Fairman chipped in kills to push the lead to 19-12. Illinois-Springfield rallied with three straight points, but McKendree fired back four of five points and coasted to a seven-point win in the second set.

The Prairie Stars used four kills and an ace to snag a 6-5 lead to start the third set and continued to pressure the Bearcats with 5-2 run that moved their lead to 13-11. Fairman and Melchert scored kills on back to back points to tie the set, but Illinois-Springfield regained the lead after capitalizing on a pair of service errors to go ahead 15-14. Lorenz brought the Bearcats back with a kill to tie things at 16 all before a 5-0 run from McKendree gave the Bearcats a four-point lead. The Prairie Stars responded with three of the next four points to cut the lead to just two points at 22-20, but McKendree proved to be too much as Fairman and Williams landed back to back kills to spark a 3-0 run the closed out the match for the Bearcats.