ROLLA, Mo. – The McKendree University volleyball team concluded its two-match road swing through Southern Missouri here Saturday afternoon with a five-set loss to Missouri S&T (25-18, 19-25, 25-22, 15-25, 11-15) in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at Gibson Arena.
 
With the setback, the Bearcats went 0-2 on its road trip and drops its record to 9-14 overall and 4-6 in the GLVC, while S&T improves to 14-7 overall and 6-3 in the GLVC. The Bearcats are currently in eighth place in the league standings heading into final two weeks of the regular season.
 
Four Bearcats finished the match with double-digit kills as junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) led the way with 17 kills and added 20 digs for her team-leading 15th double-double of the season. In addition to Binder, sophomore outside hitter Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) added 12 kills. Junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) tallied 11 kills and 12 digs for her 10th double-double of the season and senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) had 10 kills and hit .438 for the match.
 
Sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) posted her 12th double-double of the season as she had 24 assists and 15 digs and had three of McKendree's match-high nine aces.
 
Defensively, junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) had five blocks, while Preusser added three blocks.
 
Along with Binder, Williams and Preusser, senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) had 11 digs and an ace, while sophomore libero Keely Davis (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo) had 10 digs and two aces as McKendree finished with 78 digs in the match.
 
Missouri S&T has the advantage in hitting percentage, .186 to .142, as well as blocks (12-6), while McKendree has the upper hand in kills (56-50), digs (78-65) and aces (9-7).
 
S&T was paced by 18 kills and a .349 attack percentage from Jordan Burton, while Madelyn Mason and Abigail Widiker each had 11 kills in the win. Madison Offerman had five blocks and Lexi Netherlain recorded a team-high 14 digs and Widiker had 13 digs for a double-double.
 
Set 1
McKendree led 8-4 early in the opening set and led 15-8 when S&T used a 7-2 run to pull within 17-15. Two straight kills from McIlhargie gave the Bearcats a 19-15 lead, before the Miners scored two of the next three points to pull within 20-17. The Bearcats, though, would close the set on a 5-1 run to earn a 25-18 win.
 
In the set, McK hit .429 with 17 kills, including seven from Binder and four from McIlhargie, while S&T hit .116 with 11 kills and three aces.
Set 2
The second set featured seven ties and three lead changes as S&T lead 4-2 early in the set, before the Bearcats used a 6-3 run capped by a service error by Brooke McCartney to take an 8-7 lead. The lead was short for the Bearcats as S&T responded with an 8-2 run to take a 15-10 lead.
 
The Bearcats would score four of the next five points to pull within 16-14, before S&T responded with a 7-3 run to take a 23-17 lead. Kills from Binder and McIlhargie pushed McK within 24-19, but S&T sealed the 25-19 set win with a kill by Mason to tie the match at 1-1. In the set, S&T hit .294 and McK hit .152.
 
Set 3
S&T jumped out to a 12-7 lead in the third set, before the Bearcats used a 13-7 run capped by an ace from Pruesser to push out to a 20-19 lead. A kill from Mason and an attack error by Diercks gave S&T a 21-20 lead, before a kill by Diercks and an ace from Misner to give McKendree a 22-21 lead. After a kill from Mason tied the set at 23, McCurley and Binder capped the Bearcats' 25-22 set win with back-to-back kills.
 
The Miners outhit McKendree, .176 to .147, but the Bearcats had five aces in the set. Binder had five kills and hit .444 for the Bearcats.
 
Set 4
In the fourth set, S&T hit .219 and held McKendree to a -.053 attack percentage en route to earning a 25-15 set win to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Set 5
S&T jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fifth set, but the Bearcats responded with a 6-2 run to pull within 7-6 following a kill by Diercks. The Miners, though, used a 5-3 run to push in front 12-9. McK would come right back and use a kill by McIlhargie and a bad set from Burton to pull within 12-11. That would be as close as the Bearcats would get as S&T scored three straight points to seal its 15-11 win. In the set, S&T outhit McKendree, .125 to .034.
   
Up Next
The Bearcats will return to action next Friday, Oct. 28 as they host UMSL to close out the home portion of its schedule and then plays on Saturday, Oct. 29 at Maryville. Friday's Senior Night match will begin at 6 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. Prior to Friday's match, the Bearcats 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).