LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's volleyball returns home to the Melvin Price Convocation Center this weekend for a pair of league matches against Rockhurst University and Southwest Baptist University.
 
The Bearcats open the weekend on Friday, Oct. 7 with a 6 p.m. match against Rockhurst, before concluding the weekend with a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 8 against Southwest Baptist.
 
McKendree comes into this weekend's action sporting a 7-9 overall record and 3-3 mark in the GLVC after splitting league road matches last weekend with Truman State and William Jewell. The Bearcats opened the weekend with a five-set loss at Truman State, before rebounding to post a four-set win at William Jewell.
 
The Bearcats are now halfway through the league season as they have six GLVC matches remaining in the regular season. Through the first six games of league, the Bearcats are sitting in eighth place in the league standings. The top eight teams in the league at the end of the regular season advance to the GLVC Tournament, which is scheduled for Nov. 10-12 at the Eastside Centre in Peoria, Ill.
 
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats, who hit a season-high 335 in its last match at William Jewell, has been led offensively this season 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 373 kills, 412 digs, 49 blocks, 32 aces and are hitting a combined .165 on the season. Binder leads the team and is fifth in the league in kills per set as she is averaging 3.46 kills and 3.70 digs per game and is third in the league in attacks per set (10.68), while Preusser is averaging 2.66 kills and 3.06 digs per set and 8.05 attacks per set. In addition, those two have combined for 16 double-doubles as Binder leads the way with 10 and Preusser has had six.
 
Three other Bearcats, who are coached by Nickie Sanlin, have record 70 or more kills on the year as senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) has had 94 kills, while freshman outside hitter Lauren Harris (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn) has recorded 85 kills and is hitting .283 and junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) has had 74 kills, is hitting .232 and is second in the GLVC in blocks with 69.  
 
In GLVC play, Binder is averaging 3.54 kills and 3.29 digs per set, while Preusser is averaging 2.79 kills and 3.17 digs per set and McCurley is averaging 1.21 blocks and 1/62 kills per set.
 
The Bearcats is directed 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 2.50 digs per set and is fifth in blocks with 20. Williams has also recorded seven double-doubles.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats are fourth in the league in digs per set as they are averaging 17.03 per set and are sixth in the league in blocks per set as they are averaging 1.96 per set. The Bearcats have had six or more blocks in a match 10 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 .189 on the season.

McCurley's 1.13 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 0.61 per set. Five other Bearcats have had double-digit blocks on the year as Binder has had 28, Pruesser has had 25, Williams has had 20, Harris has had 13 and Misner 11 blocks on the year.
 
As a team, McKendree has recorded 783 kills, 1,039 digs, 119.5 blocks and 81 aces and is hitting .179 as a team. The Bearcats are third in the GLVC and 16th nationally in Division II in team attacks per set as they are averaging 38.20 per set.
 
ABOUT ROCKHURST (10-4, 3-2 GLVC)
The Hawks, who were tabbed to finish third in the Preseason GLVC Coaches' Poll, comes into Friday's match with McKendree sporting a 10-4 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the GLVC. Rockhurst has dropped two of its last three matches and has gone 3-3 since opening the season winning seven of its last eight matches.
 
Leading the way offensively for Rockhurst is junior right side hitter Tera Reberry, who is averaging 3.30 kills per set and is hitting .311, while junior outside hitter Kenzie Hines is averaging 2.92 kills, 3.18 digs and is second in aces with 16 and freshman middle hitter Sydney Raszler is averaging 1.90 kills and 0.86 blocks per set and is hitting .270.
 
Defensively, junior libero Maureen Reilly leads the league in digs per set as she is averaging 5.34, while senior middle hitter Gracie LaForge is averaging 1.13 blocks per set and is hitting .350 on the season.
 
Rockhurst uses a two-setter system as junior Sarah Montague is averaging 7.06 assists and 2.36 digs per set, while senior Brynn Bonewell is averaging 3.77 assists and 1.19 digs per set and has had 14 aces.
 
As a team, Rockhurst is hitting .201 as a team and their opponents are hitting .163. The Hawks have recorded 693 kills, 848 digs, 121 blocks and 88 aces in 14 matches this season.
 
Rockhurst holds a 7-4 record against McKendree, including coming into Friday's action having won four straight games in the series. In the most recent match-up last season in Kansas City, Mo., Rockhurst earned a three-set sweep.
 
ABOUT SOUTHWEST BAPTIST (10-7, 3-2 GLVC)
The Bearcats, who plays a non-conference match at home on Thursday against Baker and then plays a GLVC match at Maryville on Friday before facing McKendree on Saturday, comes into this week's action sporting a 10-7 overall record and a 3-2 mark in the GLVC. SBU has won three of their last four matches but is coming off a four-set loss last Saturday at home against UMSL. That loss snapped a three-match win streak for the Bearcats.
 
SBU has had four players record over 100 kills on the season, including sophomore Loran Pritchett leading the way with 138 kills and is averaging 2.30 kills and 2.02 digs per set and has had 11 aces, while junior Ashley Lasher has had 120 kills and is averaging 2.45 kills per set. The other two SBU players with 100-plus kills are sophomore Azalea Clendenning, who has had 114 kills and is averaging 2.28 kills per set and is hitting .261, while freshman Ella Rademaker has had 101 kills and leads the team in blocks with 47 and is averaging 0.81 per set.
 
The Bearcats of SBU, who were tabbed to finish 11th in the Preseason GLVC Coaches' Poll, run a two-setter system as freshman Bailey Lasater leads the way with 268 assists and is averaging 5.47 assists and 2.22 digs per set, while Pritchett is averaging 2.45 assists per set and has had 33 blocks and 11 aces.
 
Defensively, SBU is averaging 15.37 digs and 2.20 blocks per set as Rademaker is averaging 0.81 blocks per set and sophomore Deryan Simpson is averaging 0.71 blocks per set. Sophomore Aleena Peterson leads the way in digs with an average of 4.24 per set.
                                                                                           
As a team, SBU is hitting .150 as a team, while their opponents are hitting .169. SBU has had 737 kills, 1,008 digs, 146 blocks and 103 aces.
 
McKendree has won two of the first three matches in the series, but McK's lone loss came last season in Bolivar, Mo., as SBU picked up a five-set win. Prior to SBU's win last season, the Bearcats had won the previous two matches, including a 3-0 win at home on Oct.4, 2019.
 
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's two home matches, the Bearcats will return to road next weekend (Oct. 14-15) as they compete in the Midwest Region Crossover held in Hammond, Ind. The match-ups for the crossover will be selected following this weekend's action.