(Liberty, MO., Sept. 24)—The McKendree University women's volleyball team dropped a five-set nail biter on the road in a Great Lakes Valley Conference match up with William Jewell College Saturday afternoon . The Bearcats fell by scores of 23-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-18, and 12-15.
The loss dips the Bearcats to 8-5 overall and 3-1 in the GLVC this season. McKendree returns to the court Sept. 30 against GLVC foe Southern Indiana in Evansville, IN.
The Bearcats were paced by junior outside hitter
Arela Williams (San Diego, CA/LaJolla Country Day) who tallied a match high 24 kills to go with 14 digs and seven blocks. Senior middle hitter
Sophie Fairman (Staunton, IL/Staunton) put down 18 kills to pair with seven blocks, and senior right side
Allison Schneider (St. Louis, MO/Lindbergh) recorded a double-double with 14 kills and 11 blocks.
Sophomore setter
Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) handed out a match high 35 assists, adding seven digs, while senior setter
Aubry Dickmann (Edwardsville, IL/Edwardsville) helped out with 25 assists and 11 digs. Freshman middle hitter
Megan Marks (Colgate, WI/Germantown) tabbed five kills and six blocks, junior right side
Amanda Geiger (Tomball, TX/Concordia Lutheran) tabbed eight kills, seven digs, and three blocks, and freshman libero led helped hold the Cardinals to a .145 hitting percentage with a match high 18 digs from the back row.
The Bearcats connected on the first four kills of the match with pair each from Williams and Fairman as McKendree took an early 5-2 lead. Williams Jewell capitalized on a trio of service errors from the Bearcats to string an 8-4 run together, squaring the match at 9-9. Williams and Fairman continued to show the way accounting for three kills on a 5-2 burst to go ahead 14-11. The Cardinals responded with four straight points to go ahead 15-14, but Williams and Fairman once again put down kills to give McKendree an 18-17 edge. William Jewell used back to back kills and a service ace to go up 22-20 and closed the first set with another 3-0 run to go ahead 1-0.
The Bearcats opened the second set 4-1 before surrendering a five and seven point run to the Cardinals as William Jewell bounced in front 14-9. McKendree rallied within one point at 18-17, but were unable to overcome the early hole as the Cardinals took a two set lead.
The Bearcats came out clicking in the third set opening an early 13-8 lead with five kills coming from the right hand of Williams. William Jewell fought back with three straight, but McKendree used a pair of kills from Geiger and a kill from Williams to take a 16-11 advantage. The Cardinals rallied with a 6-1 run on their way to knotting the set at 18, but the Bearcats took five of the final seven points to pull the match to 2-1.
William Jewell used a 5-0 spree to take an early 8-5 lead in the fourth set. After a timeout from McKendree the Bearcats outscored the Cardinals 6-1 to take a two point lead. William Jewell pulled within one at 14-13 before dropping six of the next seven points to trail 20-14. Schneider, Geiger, and Williams all landed kills down the stretch for McKendree as the Bearcats forced a fifth and final set.
The Cardinals opened the scoring in the final set going up 4-2. McKendree sandwiched a kill from Fairman and an ace from Geiger to cap a 4-0 run and put the Bearcats in front 6-4. William Jewell rallied with an 8-2 run including five straight points to slide ahead 12-8. McKendree was able to string together three straight points, but couldn't overcome the four point deficit as the Cardinals closed the final set by three.
