(LEBANON, Ill., Oct. 3) – The McKendree University women's volleyball team will take on the Prairie Stars of the University of Illinois Springfield on Saturday Oct. 6 for its annual Dig Pink match.

The Bearcats are coming off a 3-0 sweep over the University of Missouri-St. Louis from this past Tuesday. McKendree is 10-8 overall on the season and 6-3 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC). In their last matchup against the Prairie Stars on Sept. 8 the Bearcats lost, 3-0.

Offensive efforts for McKendree are led by freshman middle blocker Hope Gramly (Prosper, TX/Prosper) who has 223 kills on the season, junior outside hitter Kelly Voss (St. Rose, IL/Mater Dei) is next with 210, and sophomore outside hitter Elle Russell (Festus, MO/St. Pius X) is a key offensive contributor with 174 kills. Senior setter Morgan Melchert (Mt. Vernon, IA/Mt. Vernon) sets up the offensive efforts for the Bearcats with 703 recorded assists on the season.

Defensive efforts for McKendree are led by junior libero Alissa Zeitelhack (Overland Park, KS/Blue Valley West) who has 219 digs thus far. Next is Voss and Russell who each have 201 total digs on the season. At the net for the Bearcats defensively is junior middle blocker Megan Marks (Colgate, WI/Germantown) and Gramly. Marks has acquired 73 total blocks and Gramly has 63.

The Bearcats will take a break from GLVC competition next weekend to travel to Indianapolis for the Midwest Regional Crossover Oct. 12-13. They will face teams from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).