LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University opens its 51st season of intercollegiate women's volleyball this coming weekend (Aug. 26-27) as they play four matches over two days at the UIndy Invitational, which will be played in the ARC (Athletics & Recreation Center) Dome on the UIndy campus.
The Bearcats open the 2022 season with a 9 a.m. ET match on Aug. 26 against Anderson (SC) University, before facing the University of Findlay at 1:30 p.m. ET on Aug. 26. McKendree will close out the event on Aug. 27 with matches against Montevallo and Wayne State (Mich.) at 10 a.m. ET and 2 p.m. ET respectively.
"Practice has been going well so far in the preseason. We have several new faces which have added depth in the gym and the competition is steep for positions, so that just raises everybody's level of play," McKendree head coach Nickie Sanlin said. "This team has a competitive intensity like our successful teams from 2013-17 and that intensity is starting to be prevalent in the gym. This team has been very business-like in their approach heading into the season opener."
The Bearcats, who were picked to finish 10th in the Preseason Great Lakes Valley Conference Coaches Poll, comes into the 2022 season welcoming back five starters and 13 letterwinners from the 2021 season. In 2021, the Bearcats posted an 8-20 overall record and a 4-13 mark in the GLVC.
"The conference (GLVC) will once again be strong this season, despite losing both Lindenwood and Southern Indiana. Those two were very strong teams that were in the top half of the league, but it doesn't matter as from top to bottom there is no bad opponent in the league," said Sanlin, who is entering ninth season with the Bearcats in 2022. "You have to have the ability to compete day-in-and-day-out and have to be on your toes every Friday and Saturday."
Among the key returners for the Bearcats are junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge), junior outside hitter/opposite hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran), and senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale).
During the 2021 season, Binder led the Bearcats in kills (260), kills per set (2.80), was second in both digs (300) and aces (14), while Preusser was second in kills (254), kills per set (2.49), and led in digs (305) and aces (32) and Misner was third in kills (155) and tied for second in digs (300). Those three players combined for 669 kills (58.1 percent) and 905 digs (53.6 percent) a season ago.
"We are returning most of our starting crew from last season and those three have played a lot the past couple of years and have each come back and improved from a season ago," added Sanlin. "Colleen and Bri are considered to be our top point scorers as they both have a little bit more heat as far as attacking and point scoring, while Maddie has great ball control and is very steady when it comes to serve receive and that is something we rely heavily on her for. She can also be a good point scorer for us."
Along with welcoming back five starters and 13 letterwinners from last season, Sanlin and her coaching staff brought in seven newcomers, including five freshmen and two transfers – graduate student outside hitter Lillee Olson (Savage, Minn./Southern Connecticut State) and sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College).
"Our freshmen newcomers have really hit the ground running and bring another level of intensity than we had in recent seasons, and they can really play," said Sanlin, who is 132-104 as McKendree's coach.
Among the five new freshmen this season are outside hitter Megan Diercks (Lucas, Texas/Lovejoy), libero Ashlyn Berczynski (Minooka, Ill./Minooka), middle blocker Hannah Kampwerth (Bartelso, Ill./Breese Central), outside hitter Destiny Gray (Oswego, Ill./Oswego) and outside hitter Lauren Harris (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn).
"All these newcomers will give us a really deep bench and a healthy roster of a good number of volleyball players where if somebody's lacking, we can find someone who can immediately step up," the Bearcat coach stated.
Two key newcomers that Sanlin expects to contribute this season are Diercks and Harris.
"Megan (Diercks) is a pretty good left-side hitter, while Lauren (Harris) is just a sheer athlete and is able to translate what are teaching on the court almost immediately," the McKendree coach added.
One of the biggest offseason additions was Williams at setter, who joined the team last spring after playing as a freshman in 2021 at Rhodes College. In 70 sets last season for the Lynx, Williams recorded 256 assists and 109 digs and tallied three double-doubles on the season.
"Amber has really adopted well to what we are talking about in the gym and our culture. She is a gym rat, wants to be in there all the time and is our quarterback," added Sanlin. "She wants to do everything she can do that is going to make the team better and herself better."
Along with the Binder, Preusser, Misner, Williams and the five freshmen newcomers, Sanlin expects to see junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) step up into a bigger role this season after being injured most of last season. Last season, McCurley recorded 46 kills and 24 digs and hit .204 in 36 sets and 10 matches.
"Lauren had some spot play last season as she was up and down, didn't really start in the beginning, started in the middle, got injured, but had a great spring and a really good summer and has come back with a renewed sense this fall," Sanlin said. "I've been really impressed to see her come into her own especially with this being her junior year."
Another transfer – Olson – who is playing at her fourth school since beginning her collegiate career at NJIT in 2018 is expected to play a role once she learns the system, according to Sanlin. In 2021 at SCSU, Olson played in 58 sets and recorded 47 kills, 92 digs and five aces and helped lead her second school, Monroe College, to the NJCAA Sweet 16 in 2019.
"Lillee fits in great to our team personality-wise. It's such a jarring role when you go from one school to another school where you've had a successful campaign, then you're in another new environment," Sanlin said. "She is trying to figure out our system which takes a little bit of time, but she has a great attitude, asks a ton of questions, is super receptive and that's exactly what you want with someone new in our system."
One of the biggest keys to the season for Sanlin's team is a return to some form of normalcy that has lacked the past few years due to the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"It's finally feeling like we are back to normal outside of the pandemic and now I feel like we're back into a normal routine as we could do a normal postseason and we were also able to have a spring season once again," added Sanlin. "This is the first time this group of juniors has had a full year of training that has not been interrupted by COVID or any other stoppage."
Sanlin said her team still needs to be able to find a way to score points this season.
"We must be able to score points. We have enough talent at the net that we must be able to produce points," the coach said. "I also think with more maturity, having a full year with a spring season under our belt and knowing what to expect in the GLVC, I think will give us a leg up to get back into the GLVC Tournament and start moving back towards where we need to be as a program."
From 2014-18, the Bearcats posted an 88-44 overall record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament in 2014 and 2017, but since going 23-9 in 2017, the Bearcats have posted a 44-60 overall record.
"This year's team is looking to be comparable to the Bearcats from 2014-17 and that is something that is exciting to see," added Sanlin.
Despite their struggles last season, the Bearcats were still strong on defense as they finished sixth in the GLVC in digs as they averaged 16.54 per set and recorded 1,687 digs in 102 sets and averaged 1.57 blocks per set. Five players recorded over 200 digs a season ago, including three players tallying over 300 digs and three players had 40 or more blocks last season. Sanlin expects this season to be more of the same.
"We are still capitalizing on defense every day. We hit on it every day and has been a focus since preseason practice started," added Sanlin. "We do have to get better on defense and it's something we've gotten better at and has been a focus for us this preseason."
Another area that is important for the Bearcats is remaining healthy this coming season as the team battled injuries throughout the 2021 season. Those injuries left the Bearcats with limited roster options at times.
"We've been able to push them (the players) to their limits and beyond this preseason and that has been something that has been exciting, because we haven't had a chance to do that in the past because of injuries," added the McKendree coach.
This weekend's four matches at the UIndy Invitational will challenge Sanlin's team and that challenge is something she is excited to see how her team responds.
The four teams that the Bearcats are playing this weekend posted a combined record of 80-40 a season ago and two of the teams – Anderson and Wayne State – each advanced to the NCAA Tournament a season ago.
"Anderson will be a good test early on as they went to the NCAA Tournament and had 23 wins last year. They are a good competitive opponent to open the season with," said Sanlin. "All four of these matches this weekend should give us a gauge of where we are at heading into the rest of the season."
Following this weekend's four matches in Indianapolis, the Bearcats will remain on the road for four more matches next weekend (Sept. 2-3) as they to Kenosha, Wis., to compete at the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside, before opening the home portion of its schedule on Sept. 9 against UMSL and Maryville in a tri-match at the Melvin Price Convocation Center in Lebanon, Ill.
