LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University Volleyball began a four-match homestand here Friday evening by dropping a hard-fought three-set match against the University of Indianapolis (19-25, 21-25, 16-25) in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the setback, the Bearcats fall to 6-14 overall and 2-7 in the league, while UIndy improved to 11-11 overall and 7-3 in the GLVC.
 
Junior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Makanda, Ill./Carbondale) paced the way offensively for the Bearcats as she recorded 10 kills,had eight digs and hit .259. In addition to Misner, sophomore outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) added nine kills and nine digs and one of McKendree's two aces.
 
Two other Bearcats had six or more kills in the match as junior middle/opposite side hitter Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) had seven kills and hit a team-best .312, while sophomore outside/opposite side hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) added six kills on the night.
 
For the match, McKendree hit .124, while UIndy hit .282. The Bearcats were outdug, 58-53 and the Greyhounds had six aces to two for the Bearcats.
 
Senior libero Skyler Siebler (Naples, Fla./Montevallo) had a match-high 17 digs, while freshman setter Catie Shane (Evansville, Ind./Francis J. Reitz) and junior setter Macy Tongate (Towanda, Ill./Normal University) totaled 18 and 14 assists in the match.
 
Elizabeth Eads led the way for UIndy with 12 kills and hit .600, while Hannah Sabotin added nine kills and hit .438 and Hannah Huppenbauer had seven kills and three blocks as UIndy held a 6-1 edge in block on the night.
 
UIndy hit over .215 in all three sets, including tallying a .351 attack percentage in the third set that sealed UIndy's 25-16 set and match win.
 
The Bearcats will continue the homestand with a 3 p.m. match on Homecoming Saturday, Oct. 23 against Southern Indiana. USI picked up a three-set win over the Bearcats in Evansville on Sept. 28.