LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's volleyball opens the Great Lakes Valley Conference portion of its schedule this weekend with a home match against Indianapolis and a road match at 15th-ranked Lewis University.
The Bearcats begin the weekend with a 6 p.m. home match in the Melvin Price Convocation Center on Friday, Sept. 16 against Indianapolis, before hitting the road for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Sept. 17 in Romeoville, Ill., against Lewis. This weekend's matches will be the first two of 12 GLVC matches this season for the Bearcats.
McKendree comes into this weekend's action looking to put the brakes on a season-long four-match losing skid that has dropped its record to 4-6 overall on the season. The four-match skid came after the Bearcats opened the season by winning four of its first six matches, including a four-set win over then 19th-ranked Michigan Tech at the Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats have been paced by the play of junior outside hitters
Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and
Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) through the first 10 matches this season as that duo has combined for 221 kills, 257 digs, 35 blocks and 20 aces. Binder leads the team in kills (125), kills per set (3.41), attack attempts (397), digs (147) and is second in both aces (9) and blocks (21), while Pruesser is second in kills (95), kills per set (2.57), attack attempts (287), digs (110) and leads in aces with 11 and is tied for fourth in blocks with 14. In addition, those two have combined for 10 double-doubles on the season as Binder has recorded a team-best six and Preusser has had four.
Four other Bearcats, who are coached by
Nickie Sanlin, have recorded 35 or more kills on the season as senior senior middle blocker
Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) has had 53 kills, while sophomore outside hitter
Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) has had 49 kills and is hitting a team-best .193. Senior outside hitter
Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) and junior middle blocker
Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) have had 48 and 35 kills respectively on the season. Misner has also had 99 digs, which is third most on the team.
The Bearcats offense is directed by sophomore setter
Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) as she is third in the GLVC in assists per set as she is averaging 9.81 per set and is also averaging 2.30 digs per set and is tied for fourth in blocks with 14. Williams has recorded three double-doubles on the year and was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Hampton Inn Invitational earlier this month.
Defensively, the Bearcats are fourth in the GLVC in digs per set as they are averaging 16.65 per set and are sixth in blocks per set as they are averaging 2.08 per set. McKendree's foes are hitting just .172 on the year.
McCurley leads the way in blocking for the Bearcats with 40 on the season as she is averaging 1.08 blocks per set, which is fifth-best in the GLVC. McCurley has recorded five or more blocks in match this season, including a high of 10 blocks in McK's win over Michigan Tech. Along with McCurley, Diercks is second in blocks with 28 and is averaging 0.76 per set. Three other Bearcats have had double-digit blocks on the year as Binder has had 21 and Williams and Preusser have each had 14 blocks.
As a team, McKendree has recorded 458 kills, 616 digs, 77 blocks and 45 aces in 10 matches and is hitting .166 as a team. The Bearcats are fourth in the GLVC and 22nd nationally in Division II in team attacks per set as they are averaging 37.76 per set.
ABOUT INDIANAPOLIS (7-4)
The Greyhounds, who were tabbed to finish in a tie for sixth in the Preseason GLVC Coaches' Poll, comes into Friday's match with McKendree having won two straight and three of its last five matches overall and are sporting a 7-4 overall record. UIndy opened the season by winning five of its first seven matches, which were all played at home, but since the Greyhounds have gone 2-2 with the wins coming last Saturday against Frostburg State and Roberts Wesleyan.
Leading the way offensively for UIndy is junior middle blocker Hannah Sabotin, who is averaging 2.79 kills per set and is hitting .383. In addition to Sabotin, senior outside hitter Grace Hegwood is averaging 2.44 kills and 2.13 digs per set and is hitting .248, while sophomore outside hitter Sophia Parlanti is averaging 2.00 kills per set and is hitting .174 on the year.
Defensively, UIndy is paced by the play of redshirt senior libero MaKenna Barnhart, who is averaging 4.54 digs per set and leads the team in aces with 12. In addition to Barnhart, two Greyhounds have recorded over 25 blocks on the year as senior middle blocker Elizabeth Eads has had 26 blocks and is averaging 0.68 per set, while Sabotin has had 25 blocks and is averaging 0.64 per set.
UIndy used a two-setter system as freshman Sara Spalding and redshirt senior Alex Equihua are the top two top setters as Spalding is averaging 5.83 assists per game and has had nine aces, while Equihua is averaging 3.81 assists per game.
As team, UIndy is hitting .221 and their opponent are hitting .165. The Greyhounds have recorded 483 kills, 592 digs, 75 blocks and 59 aces in 11 matches this season.
UIndy holds a 10-5 lead all-time in the series against the Bearcats and the Greyhounds have won six straight matches in the series, including winning both matches last season. McK's last win over UIndy cam at home on Sept. 14, 2017 as the Bearcats posted a 3-1 victory.
ABOUT LEWIS (8-4)
The Flyers enter the weekend as the top-ranked program in the GLVC as Lewis jumped two spots to No. 15 in this week's latest AVCA Division II Top 25 poll. The Flyers jump up the pol came after they went 3-1 at last weekend's West Florida Invitational, which included a four set win over then eighth-ranked West Florida. Lewis is sporting an 8-4 record on the season and has won two straight and five of its last six matches with the lone loss being a three-set defeat to Oklahoma Baptist at the UWF Invitational. Lewis hosts Maryville at home on Friday, before facing the Bearcats on Saturday.
Lewis' offense has three players that have recorded over 100 kills on the year with senior right side hitter Juliana Van Loo leading with 123 kills and is averaging 3.00 kills per set and is hitting .281. In addition to Van Loo, junior middle hitter Bella Ray is next with 119 kills, is averaging 2.83 kills per set, and is hitting .235 and senior outside hitter Megan Schlechte has had 104 kills and is averaging 2.48 kills per set and is tied for the team lead with 11 aces.
Redshirt senior middle hitter Farah Taki is six kills shy of 100 on the year as she has had 94 and is averaging 2.24 kills per set and is hitting a team-best .288.
The Flyers have used two setters primarily this season as junior Lauren Stenman leads the way with 289 assists and is averaging 8.76 per set, while redshirt senior Mikah Freppon is averaging 6.76 assists per set on the year.
Defensively, four Flyers have recorded over 100 digs on the year with senior libero Andrea Zeiser leading the way with 166 digs, is averaging 4.05 digs per set, and has had 11 aces. In addition to Zeiser, Schlechte is averaging 3.55 digs per set, while junior libero Ally Hickey is averaging 3.23 digs per set and junior outside hitter Natalie Stefanski is averaging 2.87 digs per set. Ray leads the way in blocking with an average of 1.36 per set, while Taki is next with an average of 0.98 blocks per set.
As a team, Lewis leads the league in kills (577), digs (721), blocks (102), and is hitting .214 and the Flyers are limiting their foes to a .160 attack percentage.
Lewis owns a 13-2 all-time record against McKendree in volleyball and the Flyers have won seven straight matches in the series since the Bearcats picked up a five-set win in Romeoville, Ill., on Oct. 21, 2016.
UP NEXT
Following this weekend's action, the Bearcats return home to the Convocation Center to host back-to-back GLVC matches next weekend (Sept. 23-24). On Friday, Sept. 23, McK will host Illinois-Springfield at 6 p.m., and then face Quincy on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.
