KENOSHA, Wis. – McKendree University women's volleyball returns to the road this coming weekend as the Bearcats travel here to play four matches over two days (Sept. 2-3) at the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
The Bearcats will open the event with a 9 a.m. match on Sept. 2 against Minnesota Crookston, before facing 19th-ranked Michigan Tech at 5 p.m. to close out the first day, before facing Upper Iowa on Sept. 3 at 11 a.m. and then concluding the event with a 7 p.m. match against Parkside.
The Bearcats enter this weekend's event sporting a 2-2 overall record after last weekend's season opening UIndy Invitational. At the UIndy Invitational, the Bearcats opened with a 3-0 setback to Anderson, before earning a 3-0 win over Findlay and then collecting a come-from-behind 3-2 win over Montevallo. In the final match of the event, the Bearcats fell in five sets to Wayne State (Mich.).
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
McKendree was paced by the play of junior outside hitters
Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and
Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran). Binder recorded 58 kills and 75 digs in the four matches at the UIndy Invitational, including ending the event with back-to-back 20 plus kill and dig matches, while Preusser had 50 kills and 51 digs and added seven aces and had double-doubles in her final three matches.
Three other Bearcats, who are coached by
Nickie Sanlin, recorded over 20 kills last weekend as senior outside hitter
Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) had 29 kills and 32 digs, while senior middle blocker
Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) had 26 kills and a team-best 17 blocks and sophomore outside
Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) had 24 kills and hit .333 in two matches, including a career-high 24 kills against Wayne State.
The Bearcats offense is directed by sophomore setter
Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) as she averaged 10.62 assists and 2.62 digs per set and recorded two double-doubles as she opened her McKendree career with 24 assists and 14 digs against Anderson and then had 47 assists and 15 digs against Montevallo.
While Diercks has recorded 17 blocks on the season, junior middle blocker
Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) recorded 14 blocks last weekend, including six blocks against Wayne State.
As a team, McKendree has recorded 203 kills, 262 digs and 32 blocks in four matches and is outhitting their opponents .169 to .164. In addition, the Bearcats have recorded 22 aces, including a season high nine aces in the five-set win over Montevallo.
ABOUT HAMPTON INN INVITATIONAL OPPONENTS
MINNESOTA CROOKSTON (0-4)
The Golden Eagles come into the weekend sporting an 0-4 record after opening the 2022 season at last weekend's Northern Michigan Open in Marquette, Mich. Leading the way offensively for the Golden Eagles is freshman outside hitter Audrey Cariveau as she leads the team in kills (40), kills per set (2.47), points per set (2.67) and total attacks (130). In addition to Cariveau, redshirt senior setter Natalie Koke recorded two double-doubles last weekend, including a 33 assist, 10 dig performance against Central Oklahoma and junior middle hitter Mara Weisensel was named to the All-Tournament Team at the NMU Open after recording five or more kills in all four matches and hit .217 to pace UMC.
Friday's match-up will be the first-ever between the two teams and the first time the Bearcats have faced an opponent from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) since facing Upper Iowa at the Capital City Classic hosted by Illinois-Springfield.
MICHIGAN TECH (4-0)
The 19th-ranked Huskies are off to an impressive 4-0 start to the 2022 season following their play at last weekend's Cal State Monterey Bay Tournament. At the event, Michigan Tech did not drop a set at the event. Leading the way offensively for the Huskies is senior setter Lina Espejo-Ramirez as she tallied 115 assists and averaged just under 10 assists per set as she earned this week's GLIAC Setter of the Week honor. Three Huskies have recorded over 30 kills on the season as senior right side hitter Jillian Kuizenga leads the way with 37 kills and is hitting .265 on the year, while junior outside hitter Lindy Oujiri has had 33 kills and is hitting .236 and freshman outside hitter Meg Raabe has had 31 kills and 29 digs on the season.
It is the second straight season that the Bearcats have faced Michigan Tech as they suffered a three-set loss to the Huskies in its opening match of last year's Capital City Classic.
UPPER IOWA (3-1)
Upper Iowa comes into this weekend's action sporting a 3-1 record following their play at last weekend's NMU Open. At the event, the Peacocks defeated Lake Superior State (3-0), Minnesota-Crookston (3-2) and Cedarville (3-1) and suffered a 3-2 loss to Northern Michigan. Leading the way offensively for UIU is junior middle blocker Zoe Semelroth as she has had 40 kills and is hitting .440 on the year. In addition to Semelroth, junior outside hitter Madelyn Rettler is averaging 2.26 kills and 3.35 digs per game on the season and graduate student outside hitter Maggie Streightiff is averaging 2.13 kills per set on the season.
Saturday's match with UIU will be the third all-time between the two schools as UIU leads the series 2-0, including picking up a 3-1 win at last season's Capital City Classic.
PARKSIDE (2-2)
The tournament's host team, Parkside, comes into this weekend's action sporting a 2-2 record following their play at last weekend's Western New Mexico's Green Chile Classic. Parkside opened with wins over Cal Poly Humboldt (3-1) and Fort Lewis (3-2), before falling to both Holy Names (3-2) and Cal State East Bay (3-2). Leading the way for Parkside offensively through their first four matches is redshirt senior right side hitter Jazmine Neal, who has recorded 56 kills and 20 blocks and is hitting .323. In addition to Neal, two other Rangers – senior outside hitter Reese Rossnagel and senior middle blocker Lexi Packard – have had 45 and 41 kills respectively on the season and Packard is hitting .390.
Saturday's match will be the 11th all-time meeting between the two teams that were once rivals in the Great Lakes Valley Conference. The Bearcats lead the series, 7-3 and have won two straight against the Rangers, including a 3-1 win in Kenosha, Wis., on Sept. 14, 2019.
UP NEXT FOR BEARCATS
The Bearcats will return to action next Friday, Sept. 9 as they open the home portion of its schedule by hosting GLVC rivals, UMSL and Maryville in non-conference matches as part of a tri-match in the Melvin Price Convocation Center. The tri-match begins at 11:30 a.m. with UMSL facing McKendree, before Maryville and UMSL meet at 3:30 p.m. and the Bearcats will conclude its own tri-match at 7:30 p.m. against Maryville.
