LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's volleyball will return to Great Lakes Valley Conference play this coming weekend as they it the road for matches in Missouri against Drury University and Missouri S&T.

The Bearcats open the weekend on Friday, Oct. 23 with a 6 p.m. match in Springfield, Mo., against Drury University, before traveling to Rolla, Mo., for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 24 against Missouri S&T. The McKendree football team will also play at Missouri S&T on Saturday with kickoff starting at 1 p.m.

McKendree comes into this weekend's action sporting a 9-12 overall record and a 4-4 mark in the GLVC after stepping out of league play last weekend and going 1-2 at the Midwest Region Crossover held in Hammond, Ind. At the Midwest Region Crossover, the Bearcats fell in five sets to Wisconsin-Parkside and three sets to Walsh and picked up a four set win over Tiffin.

Entering the final two weeks of the regular season, the Bearcats are sitting alone in seventh place in the league standings and control their own postseason fate. The top eight teams in terms of winning percentage in league play at the end of the regular season will advance to the GLVC Tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 10-12 at the Eastside Centre in Peoria, Ill. Two of McKendree's final four opponents (UMSL and Missouri S&T) are above the Bearcats in the standings, while the other two (Drury and Maryville) are below the Bearcats in the standings.

ABOUT THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats offense continues to be led by the play of junior outside hitters Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran). That pair have combined for 494 kills, 535 digs, 66 blocks, 57 aces and are hitting a combined .168 on the season. Binder leads the team and fifth in the league in kills per set and she is averaging 3.49 kills and 3.65 digs per set, while Preusser is averaging 2.63 kills and 3.09 digs per set. In addition, those two have combined for 23 double-doubles as Binder leads the way with 14 and Preusser has had nine.

Two other Bearcats, who are coached by Nickie Sanlin, have recorded over 100 kills on the year as senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) has had 131 kills and is hitting .252, while junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) has had 102 kills, is hitting .264 and is third in the GLVC in blocks with 87.

The Bearcats offense is quarterbacked by sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Ill./Rhodes College) as she is third in the GLVC in assists per set as she is averaging 10.26 per set and is averaging 2.58 digs per set and is fifth in blocks with 21. Williams has also recorded 11 double-doubles, which are second most on the team.

Defensively, the Bearcats are fourth in the league in digs per set as they are averaging 16.93 per set and are seventh in the league in blocks per set as they are averaging 1.92 per set. The Bearcats have had six or more blocks in a match 15 times, including a season-high 14 blocks in its four-set win over then 19th-ranked Michigan Tech at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. Additionally, McKendree's foes are hitting .191 on the season.

McCurley's 1.18 blocks per set average are third-best in the GLVC. She has recorded five or more blocks in match seven times this season, including a high of 10 blocks in the win over Michigan Tech. Along with McCurley, Diercks is second in blocks with 37 and is averaging 0.63 per set. Three other Bearcats have had 20 or more blocks on the year as Binder and Pruesser have each had 32 and Williams has had 21.

The Bearcats have also had three players record 200 or more digs on the year as Binder has had 274, Preusser has had 235 and senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) has had 201 and is averaging 2.75 digs per set.

As a team, McKendree has recorded 1,022 kills, 1,371 digs, 155.5 blocks and 126 aces and is hitting .181 as a team. The Bearcats are third in the GLVC and 18th nationally in Division II in team attacks per set as they are averaging 38.14 per set.

ABOUT DRURY (10-14, 2-5 GLVC)
The Lady Panrthers, who were tabbed to finish tied for sixth in the Preseason GLVC Coaches' Poll, comes into this weekend's action sporting a 10-14 overall record and a 2-5 mark in the GLVC. Drury, though, has won three straight matches as they went 3-0 at last weekend's Midwest Region Crossover event. The three-match win streak came on the heels of Drury dropping nine straight matches. The Lady Panthers, though, have lost five straight league matches since earning a four-set win at William Jewell on Sept. 17.

Leading the way offensively for Drury is sophomore outside hitter Salma Lewis, who is averaging 2.85 kills and 2.62 digs per game and is hitting .162 and she has had 21 aces. In addition to Lewis, sophomore middle blocker Stormi Tadlock (Ozark, Mo./Ozark) is averaging 2.48 kills and 0.82 blocks per game and is hitting .288.

Defensively, junior libero Juliana Squire is averaging 4.34 assists per set and is second in aces with 29, while sophomore middle blocker Kayli Duncan is averaging a team-best 0.98 blocks per set and has also had 164 kills and is hitting .301 on the year.

Drury has used two setters at times this season as the primary setter is senior Chloe Fear, who is averaging 7.81 assists and 2.50 digs per set, has had 198 kills, and leads the team with 32 aces. The second setter is senior Gabby Birmingham, who is averaging 3.07 assists per set on the year.

As a team, Drury is hitting .201 and their opponents are hitting .200. The Lady Panthers have recorded 1,169 kills, 1,406 digs, 161.5 blocks and 138 aces in 92 sets and 24 matches this season.

Drury leads the all-time series against McKendree, 6-5, but the Bearcats won the most recent meeting last season as they picked up a five-set win last season in Springfield, Mo. That win snapped a four-match losing skid for the Bearcats in the series.

ABOUT MISSOURI S&T (12-7, 4-3 GLVC)
Missouri S&T, who hosts Maryville at home on Friday before facing the Bearcats on Saturday, comes into this weekend's play sporting a 12-7 overall record and a 4-3 mark in the GLVC. The Miners went 1-2 at last weekend's Midwest Region Crossover and have gone 3-2 overall in their last five matches with the wins coming over Drury, Findlay and Wayne State (Mich.). In the Preseason GLVC Coaches' poll, S&T was tabbed to finish fourth.

The Miners have two players that have recorded over 200 kills on the season as junior right side hitter Madelyn Mason leads with way with 221 kills and is averaging 3.16 kills per set and is hitting .244, while junior outside hitter Jordan Burton has had 214 kills and is averaging 3.06 per set and is hitting .212.

Defensively, S&T is led by fifth-year senior libero Lexi Netherlain, who is averaging 3.89 digs per set and leads the team in aces with 24. In addition to Netherlain, sophomore middle hitter Madison Offerman and senior middle hitter Shelby Ply both average over a block per set on the year as Offerman is averaging 1.20 blocks per set and is hitting .310 and Ply is averaging 1.06 blocks per set and is hitting .364 overall.

The Miners use two setters in their offensive attack as fifth-year senior Hannah Merjil leads the way as she is averaging 5.86 assists per set and has had 40 blocks and 82 digs, while freshman setter Annie Arand is averaging 5.23 assists and 2.00 digs per set.

As a team, S&T is hitting .226 and is allowing their foes to hit .166 on the year. The Miners have recorded 885 kills, 1,037 digs, 174 blocks and 106 aces on the year.

McKendree holds a 9-2 all-time lead in the series and the Bearcats have won eight straight matches in the series, including picking up a five-set win in the Melvin Price Convocation Center last season. The Bearcats have a 5-1 record against S&T in Rolla.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's two road matches, the Bearcats will close out the regular season next weekend (Oct. 28-29) with a home match on Oct. 28 at 6 p.m. against league-leader UMSL, before traveling to Town & Country, Mo., for a 3 p.m. match on Oct. 29 at Maryville.

Friday's match with UMSL will serve as Senior Day for the Bearcats as prior to the match, the team will recognize its four seniors that will not be returning next season. Those four seniors that will be honored are graduate student outside hitter Lillee Olson (Savage, Minn./Southern Connecticut State), graduate student libero Skyler Sieber (Naples, Fla./Montevallo), senior middle blocker Sarah Porter (Gifford, Ill./Millikin) and redshirt junior outside hitter Avery Carr (Bloomington, Ill./Bloomington).