INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – McKendree University women's volleyball continued play here Saturday morning in the season opening UIndy Invitational by posting a come-from-behind five-set victory over Montevallo (22-25, 10-25, 25-23, 25-16, 15-11) at the ARC (Athletics-Recreation Center) Dome on the UIndy campus.
 
With the win, McKendree improves to 2-1 on the season and will conclude the two-day, UIndy Invitational with a 1 p.m. Central match against Wayne State (Mich.) University.
 
The five-set win was the third consecutive for the Bearcats dating to last season and the Bearcats improved to 27-18 in five set matches since the beginning of the 2014 season, including being 7-4 in five-set matches since the beginning of the 2019 season.
 
Junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) led the way for the Bearcats as she recorded a season-best 20 kills and 21 digs for her first double-double of the season. Binder also hit .320 and tied a career high with four aces.
 
In addition to Binder, junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) added 12 kills and 14 digs for her second straight double-double, while senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) had eight kills, four blocks and hit .263 for the match and sophomore outside hitter Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) tied her career high with six kills and added two aces, four digs and hit .333 as played the final three sets.
 
Sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) recorded her second double-double of the season as she had 47 assists and 15 digs. The 47 assists are an all-time collegiate best for Williams.
 
Montevallo (1-2) was led by 14 kills, three blocks and a .393 attack percentage from Allie Dishman and another 13 kills and seven digs from Macy Martin. Allyah Thompson added 10 kills and Casey Hendrixson had 18 digs to pace the Falcons defense.
 
As a team, McKendree outhit Montevallo .187 to .142 and had nine aces to eight for the Falcons, while Montevallo outblocked McKendree, 9-8.
 
Set 1
Montevello opened the set by scoring six of the first eight points and led 11-6 when the Bearcats called a timeout. Following the timeout, the Bearcats used a 10-4 run capped by a kill from Binder to take a 16-15 lead. The lead was the first of the set for the Bearcats. UM, though, responded with a 7-1 run capped by a kill from Dishman to take a 22-17 lead. Kills by Diercks and Binder brought McK helped the Bearcats use a 5-2 run to pull within 24-22. The Falcons would cap the 25-22 set win on a kill by Dishman.
 
Montevello outhit McK in the set, .244 to .175 as Kamble Frenette, Meyer and Dishman combined for 13 kills. Binder had six kills and nine digs to pace the Bearcats.
 
Set 2
The second set belonged to Montevallo as they hit .294 and held the Bearcats to a -.154 attack percentage. The Falcons also had five aces and recorded four blocks in the set. UM jumped in front 12-3, before the Bearcats would mount a rally as they used a 6-2 run capped by a Binder kill to pull within 14-9. But that would be as close as the Bearcats would get as UM closed the set by scoring 11 of the final 12 points to post a 25-10 win. Senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) had three of McK's six kills in the set.
 
Set 3
After hitting negative in the second set, the Bearcats rebounded to hit .250 in the third set and held UM to an .096 attack percentage. The set feature 14 ties and four lead changes. Neither team was able lead by more than a point early in the set until UM turned an 8-all tie into a 12-10 lead. The lead, though, was shortlived thanks to a kill and an ace by Binder that tied the set at 12. From that point, UM responded with an 8-5 run to push out to a 20-17 lead. The Bearcats would come back and score three straight points thanks to two attack errors by the Falcons and a kill by McIlhargie to tie things at 20. After the two teams took turns holding the lead, the Bearcats used back-to-back kills from Binder and McIlhargie to take a 24-22 lead. After UM pulled within 24-23 following a service error by Preusser, Diercks capped the 25-23 set win with a kill.
 
Binder had seven kills, while McIlhargie added three kills in the set for the Bearcats.
 
Set 4
McKendree dominated in the fourth set to force a fifth and decisive set as the Bearcats outhit UM .286 to .062 and used five aces to its advantage in the set. The Bearcats jumped out to an 11-3 lead to open the set and led 20-9 following a kill by Binder. The Falcons, though, would mount a rally as they responded to Binder's kill by scoring six of the next seven points to drop McK's lead to 21-15. Binder would once again deliver a kill to start a 4-1 run to end the set by the Bearcats as they posted a 25-16 win, including capping the win with a kill from Diercks.
 
Set 5
Preusser and McIlhargie each had three kills and combined to hit .462 in the deciding match as McK hit .333 as a team with nine kills and two attack errors, while UM hit .043.
 
UM jumped in front 4-1 to open the set, but the Bearcats rallied to score six of the next seven points to take a 7-5 lead. The run was capped by back-to-back kills from Binder and Preusser. The Falcons, though, would score three of the next four points to tie the set at 8. After the Bearcats scored three straight points to pull in front 11-8, UM would rally again to pull within 11-10 following a Bearcat attack error and an ace by Dishman. That would be as close as the Falcons would get as the Bearcats scored four of the final five points of the set and capped the 15-11 win on an ace by McIlhargie.