TOWN & COUNTRY, Mo. – The McKendree University women's volleyball team began its final road trip of the 2021 season here Friday evening by suffering a three-set loss (16-25, 18-25, 21-25) to Maryville University in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Moloney Arena.
 
With the loss, McKendree snapped its two match win streak and dropped its overall record to 8-16 overall and 4-9 in the league, while Maryville improved to 12-15 overall and 3-11 in the league.
 
Sophomore Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) paced the Bearcats offense with a team-high 10 kills and added seven digs. In addition to Preusser, sophomore outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) added eight kills and nine digs and senior outside hitter McKenna Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) had six kills and two block assists.
 
The Bearcat offense hit only .094 in the match, including recording a minus hitting percentage in the second set. Maryville hit .232 for the match.
 
Freshman setter Catie Shane (Evansville, Ind./Francis J. Reitz) directed the Bearcats offense as she collected 28 assists, while junior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Makanda, Ill./Carbondale) moved over the libero spot in Friday's match and led the Bearcats with 14 digs.
 
Maryville was led by a 12 kill performance by Taylor Keck, while Mikaela Kues, Ella Kosky and Karolina Rodowski each had eight kills in the win.
 
Kosky hit .333 and Keck added a .308 hitting percentage in the win.
 
Defensively, A.J. Hallemann paced the Saints with 22 digs and Keck added three service aces to pace Maryville to its second straight win.
 
In the opening set, McKendree jumped in front 10-5, before Maryville used a 7-0 scoring run to take a 12-10 lead. After stopping the run with a service error, Maryville would score the next seven points to take a 19-11 lead. The Saints lead would grow to 23-12, before the Bearcats would score four of the next five points, including capping the run with a kill by Ross to pull within 24-16. MU, though, would cap the 25-16 set win with a service error by Preusser. In the set, McK hit .057 with seven kills, while MU had 18 kills and hit .279.
 
The second set featured seven ties and four lead changes as MU jumped out to a 7-3 lead, before McK used a 7-2 run to take a 10-9 lead following a kill by Binder. The two teams would then play to ties at 10, 11, 12, 13 and 15, before the Saints scored nine straight points to push its lead to 24-15. The Bearcats, though, used a kill by junior middle blocker/opposite side hitter Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland), an attack error by Maryville and an ace from Preusser to pull within 24-18, before MU capped the 25-18 set win with a solo block from Abbie Schnell. In the set, McK hit -.028 with 10 kills, while MU had seven kills and hit .115.
 
Meanwhile, in the third set, McKendree held an early lead until the Saints tied the set at 7-7. The tie was the first seven in the set. Following the tie, MU would use a 6-4 run to take a 13-11 lead. Following a kill by Diercks stopped MU's run, the Saints would score five of next six points to push its lead to 18-13. The Bearcats would answer by scoring five straight points to tie the set at 18. The set would eventually be tied for the final time at 21, before Maryville scored the final four points of the set to cap the 25-21 set win and seal the match win. In the set, McKendree hit .257 with 14 kills, while Maryville had 17 kills and hit .256.
 
The three-match road swing continues on Saturday, Nov. 6 as they travel to Quincy, Ill., for a 3 p.m. GLVC match against Quincy University, before playing a 6 p.m. ET match on Nov. 9 at the University of Indianapolis.