(LEBANON, Ill., Sept. 7) – The McKendree University women's volleyball team dropped its final match of the Ferris State Invitational to Bemidji State in a hard fought five set battle, 3-2. The Bearcats are now 1-3 overall on the season.
McKendree opened the match with a 25-23 victory over the Beavers with 18 of the Bearcats points coming from kills. Bemidji State bounced back and took the second set 25-15 and then the third set 25-21. McKendree battled to keep the match alive with a 27-25 win in the fourth set to tie things up at two sets a piece.
The fifth set started off with Bemidji State scoring four straight points forcing the Bearcats to call a timeout. McKendree then answered back with four straight points of its own, three of which were off of junior outside hitter
Elle Russell's (Festus, MO/St. Pius X) attacks. From there it was a back and forth battle between the Bearcats and the Beavers with Bemidji State ultimately coming out on top, 15-11 in the fifth set and 3-2 in the match.
For the third straight Bearcat
match, Russell led the offense with 20 recorded kills on the day. Freshman
Maddie Misner (Carbondale, IL/Carbondale), another offensive powerhouse for McKendree, was close behind with 13 kills. Setting the offense up for success was junior setter
Gracie Marr (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View) who tallied 45 total assists in the match.
Defensively, freshman libero
Amanda Tippett (O'Fallon, MO./St. Dominic ) controlled the back line for the Bearcats earning 18 digs in five sets. Senior outside hitter
Kelly Voss (St. Rose, IL/Mater Dei) and Marr were also essential defenders for McKendree, Voss recording 13 digs and Marr tallying eight. The Bearcats outnumbered the Beavers in blocks with sophomore middle blocker
Hope Gramly (Prosper, TX/Prosper) and senior middle blocker
Megan Marks' (Colgate, WI/Germantown) help. Each middle blocker recorded one solo block then Gramly tallied an additional three block assists while Marks earned two block assists.
The Bearcats next match will take place at the Parkside Hampton Inn Invite in Kenosha, Wisc., next weekend, Sept. 13-14. First up on the docket for McKendree will be Winona State University with the match beginning at 8 a.m.
