HAMMOND, Ind. - McKendree University women's volleyball split its final two matches of the Midwest Region Crossover here Saturday at the Hammond Sportsplex. 

The Bearcats opened the second day of the event with a three-set win over Tiffin (25-21, 25-12, 25-21), before suffering a three-set loss to Walsh (24-26, 25-27, 21-25). 

With the split, McKendree moves its record to 9-12 overall on the season and finishes the Midwest Region Crossover with a 1-2 record after opening the event with a five-set loss on Friday to Wisconsin-Parkside. 

TIFFIN 3, McKENDREE 0
In Saturday's first match, the Bearcats hit .325 with 45 kills and had 10 aces in posting a three-set sweep over the Dragons (10-14 overall). Junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) each had 11 kills and Binder added 11 digs for her fourth straight double-double and team-leading 14th of the season. Diercks hit .688 to pace the Bearcats offense. 

Binder and junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) recorded seven of McKendree's match-high 10 aces as Preusser tied a career high with four and Binder added three. 

Sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Ill./Rhodes College) tallied her 10th double-double with 42 assists and 11 digs. Sophomore defensive specalist Keely Davis (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo) paced the Bearcats defense with 14 digs, while junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) had four blocks, seven kills and hit .636 on 11 swings and no errors. 

Tiffin, who finished the match hitting .122, was paced offensively by 12 kills and .458 attack percentage from Taylor Peterson, whlle Diana Heitkamp added a match-high 19 digs and Clare Kwiatkowski added 28 assists and 12 digs in the loss. 

The Bearcats led 10-6 early in the opening set and held a 16-8 lead when Tiffin used a 9-5 run to pull within 21-17. The Dragons would eventually draw within 23-20, before kills from Binder and McCurley sandwiched around an attack error by Preusser gave the Bearcats a 25-21 set win. Both teams hit over .300 in the set as McKendree hit .341 with 18 kills, including seven kills from Binder, while Tiffin had 16 kills and hit .318 with Peterson recording six and hitting .600.

McKendree dominated the second set as they held Tiffin to a -.139 attack percentage and jumped out to an 8-3 lead early in the set and eventually pushed its lead to 21-10. Tiffin would stop the run on an attack error by sophomore outside hitter Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) to drop McK's lead to 21-11, but the Bearcats would close the set by scoring four of the final five points to earn a 25-12 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match. The Bearcats hit .250 in the set and had three aces. 

The Bearcats once again were dominant in the third set as they hit .333 with 16 kills, including five kills and a .556 attack percentage from Diercks, while Tiffin hit .143 with 10 kills and three aces. In the set, McK jumped out to a 12-3 lead and led 15-4 when Tiffin used a 14-5 run to pull within 20-18. That would be as close as Tiffin would get as the Bearcats closed the set by scoring five of the final seven points, including capping the 25-21 set win on a kill by Diercks to seal the match. 

WALSH 3, McKENDREE 0

Against Walsh in its finale of the Midwest Region Crossover, the Bearcats were outhit, .270 to .181, but held a 7-2 edge in aces and both teams each had nine blocks in falling 3-0 to Walsh (10-9). 

Binder led the way offensively with 12 kills and 10 digs for her 15th double-double, while Diercks and McIlhargie each had eight kills in the setback. Preusser had four of the seven aces, while McCurley finished with six blocks and added four kills for a .667 attack percentage. 

Williams came four digs shy of a double-double as she finished with 32 assists and six digs. 

Walsh had a balanced offensive attack four players recorded between five to nine kills with Sydney Dixon leading the way with nine kills. Sammie DiBease added eight kills and hit .429 and Grace Lindquist had five blocks, added eight kills and hit .636. 

The first set featured 10 ties and six lead changes as Walsh jumped out to an early 8-6 lead. The Bearcats, though, would respond with an 11-5 run to take a 15-13 lead. The lead grew to 18-15 when the Bearcats used a 9-4 run capped by a Binder ace to take a 24-22 lead. A kill by Dixon, back-to-back errors by Preusser and a kill from Dixon help the Cavaliers seal its 26-24 set win. 

In the second set, which featured eight ties and three lead changes, Walsh jumped out to a 12-7 lead. The Bearcats, though, would use an 11-5 run to take an 18-17 lead following a kill by Diercks. The Bearcats would push its lead to 20-18 following an ace by freshman defensive specialist Ashlyn Berczynski (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn), before Walsh tied the set at 25-all following a 7-5 scoring run. Back-to-back attack errors by Binder and McIlhargie helped Walsh pick up a 27-25 set win. 

Much like the first two sets, the Cavaliers hit .195 to McKendree's .194. Walsh jumped out to a 10-7 lead in the third set and led 12-9 when the Bearcats scored three straight points to tie the set at 12-all. Walsh would respond with a 10-2 run to take a 22-14 lead. The Bearcats, though, wouldn't go away as they used a 6-2 run capped by an assisted block from McCurley and Preusser. Walsh would come back and score the final two points of the set to seal the match win for the Cavaliers.       

The Bearcats will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play next weekend (Oct. 21-22) as they travel to Springfield, Mo, for a 6 p.m. match against Drury, before playing on Saturday, Oct. 22 at Missouri S&T.