LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's volleyball team put the brakes on a two-match home court losing skid here Saturday as the Bearcats picked up a five-set victory over Southwest Baptist (25-7, 27-25, 15-25, 9-25, 15-11) in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the win, McKendree improves to 8-10 overall and 4-4 in the league, while SBU falls to 11-9 overall and 3-4 in the GLVC. With four league matches left in the regular season, the Bearcats are currently sitting in seventh place in the league standings as the top eight teams advance to the GLVC Tournament.
 
Junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) led the way offensively with 12 kills and added 10 digs for her 12th double-double of the season. In addition to Binder, junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) added 11 kills and 15 digs for her eighth double-double of the season and senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) had 10 kills, three blocks and hit .350.
 
Sophomore libero Keely Davis (Terre Haute, Ind./North Vigo) led the Bearcats defense with 17 digs, while Preusser and sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Ill./Rhodes College) each had 15 digs and she had 41 assists for her ninth double-double.
 
McKendree was strong in serving on Saturday as they had eight aces, including a career-high tying four from Preusser.
 
Neither team hit well in the match as SBU hit .137 and McKendree finished with a .127 attack percentage. The Bearcats were also outblocked, 9-5.
 
SBU was paced by 13 kills from Loran Pritchett and 12 kills and five blocks from Ella Rademaker. Loren Pritchett also had five blocks and Bailey Lasater led the Bearcats with 17 digs.
 
Set 1
The first set belonged to McKendree as they hit .375 with 10 kills and four aces to post a 25-7 win. Preusser, Diercks and junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) each had three kills and Preusser had four aces in the set. SBU was held to a -.205 attack percentage.
 
SBU scored the first two points of the set, but that lead would be short lived as Bearcats would score 19 of the next 22 points to push out to a 19-5 lead. After a kill by Lauren Compton stopped McK's run, Diercks would begin a 6-2 run to close the set with back-to-back kills to post a 25-7 win.
 
Set 2
The second set was competitive from the outset as it featured 11 ties and four lead changes. McK had 17 kills and hit .196 in the set, while SBU hit .105 with 10 kills. Binder had six kills and hit .667 in the set.
 
Neither team would get much of advantage early in the set, before McK used an 11-6 run capped by a Binder kill to take an 18-15 lead. McK's lead would grow to 21-17 when SBU used a 4-1 run to pull within 22-21. After two straight points brought McK within one point of a set, SBU would reel off four of the next seven points to tie the set at 25. A kill from Diercks and an ace from freshman defensive specialist Ashlyn Berczynski (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) capped the Bearcats' 27-25 set win.
 
Set 3
SBU dominated the third set as they hit .290 with 13 kills, while McK hit .054 with six kills en route to earning a 25-15 set win to drop McK's lead to 2-1 in the match.
 
Set 4
Much like the third set, SBU would dominate the home team Bearcats in the fourth set as they hit .282 with 13 kills, while holding McK to an -.146-attack percentage. SBU would earn a 25-9 win in the set to force a fifth and deciding set.
 
Set 5
In the final set, McK scored the first two points and led 7-5 when SBU scored two straight points to tie the set at 7-all. McK would respond with a 5-2 run to take a 12-9 lead, including capping the run with a kill from Binder. After a kill from Pritchett brought SBU within 12-10, McK would score three of the final four point, including capping the 15-11 set win a kill from Preusser.
 
Up Next
The Bearcats will step out of GLVC play next weekend (Oct. 14-155) as they compete in the GLIAC/GMAC/GLVC Crossover event held in Hammond, Ind. The pairings and matches for the crossover event will be announced on Monday afternoon.