The McKendree University women's volleyball team competed in its third Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) Triangular on Saturday afternoon. The Bearcats started the day with a win over Southwest Baptist 3-1(25-17, 15-25, 25-16, 25-12). The Bearcats improve to 4-5 (4-5 in GLVC) after taking the first match of the day.
McKendree started off slow as Southwest Baptist went on a 5-2 run to start the opening set. Good defensive coverage kept the offense alive for the Bearcats. McKendree was able to build a two-point advantage before Southwest Baptist was forced into a timeout. The Bearcats ran away with their lead for the remainder of the game to take the opening set 25-17.
Southwest Baptist started the second set similar to the first set, building a large lead early in the set and capitalizing on McKendree's errors. McKendree would break scoring runs, but the deficit was too large to crawl back from. Southwest Baptist would take the second match 25-15 to tie the match.
McKendree came out with revenge in the third set, taking the lead early in the set and shutting down its opponent's offense. A kill by
Alexandria Muschong (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) would secure the set for the Bearcats, 25-16.
Long rallies and back-and-forth scoring made up the first half of the fourth set, before McKendree started to pull away. The Bearcats' blocking helped them maintain their lead for the rest of the game for the 25-12 set win, and the match 3-1.
McKendree finished the match with 49 kills with a .223 hitting percentage.
Maddie Misner (Makanda, IL/Carbondale) recorded a team-high 15 kills, while
Alexandria Muschong (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) and
Brianna Binder (Littleton, CO/Dakota Ridge) recorded nine kills during the match. Misner led both teams with four service aces, and added two assists. Muschong led with four blocks. Binder added two blocks and recorded 13 digs.
Gracie Marr (Castle Rock, CO/Castle View) also led with four blocks, recorded 39 assists and had nine digs.
Amanda Tippett (Forestill, MO/St. Dominic) led the defense with 21 digs.
Nickie Sanlin's team will take the court again later today, to face Maryville at 3:00 PM.
