LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University women's volleyball opens the 2021 season at the Ferris State Invitational this weekend playing four matches in two days.
The Bearcats' first matches is scheduled for Friday, Sept. 3 against Davenport at 2 p.m. ET and will conclude Friday's action against Winona State at 7 p.m. ET. McKendree will close out the tournament on Sept. 4 with matches against Saint Leo at 11:30 a.m. ET and Tiffin at 2 p.m. ET.
This will mark the second time in three years McKendree has opened the season at the Ferris State Invitational as the Bearcats played the first four matches of the 2019 season at the Ferris State Invitational.
"The team has exceeded expectations early on in preseason practices," head coach Nickie Sanlin said. "The team is picking up the system faster because of being in great shape and due to the time, we've had to work out."
The Bearcats, who were picked fourth in the GLVC East Division Preseason Coaches' Poll, come into the 2021 season welcoming back three starters and 11 letterwinners from the spring shortened season that featured only GLVC conference opponents.
The key returners for the Bearcats are sophomore outside/opposite hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran), sophomore outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge), and junior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Makanda, Ill./Carbondale).
During the 2020-21 season that was played in the spring due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Preusser led the way offensively for the Bearcats in kills (150) and kills per set (2.73), while Binder was second in kills (132) and kills per set (2.54) and led the way with 22 aces and Misner recorded 91 kills, 13 aces, 134 digs and 14 blocks as the Bearcats finished with a 6-10 record.
"The focus in the preseason was offense and scoring in transition out of system because we knew we were already a good defensive team," Sanlin noted. "We know that defense doesn't win games, but scoring points wins games, so if we can continue to keep the ball in play and if we can transition out of it then it's going to be a good season."
The offense will get a boost with senior outside hitter Hope Gramly (Propser, Texas/Prosper) returning to the court after limited playing time in the spring as she is also a member of McKendree's Great Lakes Valley Conference champion women's bowling program.
"Having Gramly back is important because she's a captain and a big voice and presence on the court. She is also embracing playing a new position because in the past she played in the middle and on the right and this year she is playing on the left," Sanlin said.
Setting up the offensive players will be junior setter Macy Tongate (Towanda, Ill./Normal University) and freshman Catie Shane (Evansville, Ind./Francis J. Reitz).
"Macy is going to lead the charge running the offense and has matured a lot and is ready to take over the offense and run the show. Catie will be important in running the offense and can learn from Macy and be able to keep her calm running the offense in big games," Sanlin noted.
Defense is expected to be strong again this season for the Bearcats and one of the key players leading the charge defensively will be senior transfer libero Skyler Sieber (Naples, Fla./Montevallo), who arrives at McKendree after playing the past three seasons at the University of Montevallo.
"Skyler has a chance to break into the rotation in a big way and be a key part of the defense and being able to transition quickly into offense," Sanlin added.
Sanlin said that some of the keys to her team's success in 2021 will be scoring and transitioning out of system.
"Scoring more points and scoring in transition out of system and capitalizing on what we do well and staying healthy are important for us to be successful. Everyone is showing a high-level of maturity and that will be important because they will be able to stay calm in big games," Sanlin said.
With a tough GLVC conference schedule having fans in the stands will be great to feed off their energy at home games.
"I'm excited to be coaching a great group of players and I'm excited to have fans back at games to help the girls bring the energy to games," Sanlin expressed.
Following this weekend's four matches at Ferris State, the Bearcats will remain on the road for four more matches next weekend (Sept. 10-11) as they travel to Springfield, Ill., to compete at the Capital City Classic presented by Holiday Inn Express and hosted by the University of Illinois-Springfield.
