ROMEOVILLE, Ill. – McKendree University volleyball completed the first weekend of Great Lakes Valley Conference play here Saturday afternoon with a three-set loss to 15th-ranked Lewis University (18-25, 20-25, 25-20) at Neil Carey Arena.
 
The setback, which came less than 24 hours after the Bearcats opened GLVC play with a five-set home win over Indianapolis, dropped the Bearcats record to 5-7 overall and 1-1 in the league, while Lewis improves to 10-4 overall and 2-0 in the GLVC.
 
Against Lewis, the Bearcats were outhit, .333 to .147 and outblocked, 12-6 in the setback.
 
McKendree finished with 31 kills in the match with junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) leading the way with 11 kills, whlle junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) added eight kills.
 
Junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) and senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) combined for seven blocks as McCurley had four and Misner added three and also had eight digs.
 
Sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) directed the McKendree offense as she had a double-double of 23 assists and 11 digs.  
 
Lewis was led offensively by 15 kills and a .444 attack percentage from Juliana Van Loo. In addition to Van Loo, Megan Schlechte added nine kills and nine digs. Andrea Zeiser paced the Lewis defense with 17 digs, while Bella Ray had eight blocks, including two solo blocks in the win.
 
Set 1
The first set featured six ties and four lead changes as Lewis hit .556 in the set with 18 kills and held McK to a .120 attack percentage with 10 kills.
 
In the early going, Lewis held a 5-4 lead, but the Bearcats used a 6-3 run to take a 10-8 lead, including capping the run on a kill by Misner. The Flyers, though, responded with a 10-3 run that was keyed by four McK attack errors to take an 18-13 lead. Kills from Misner and senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) brought the Bearcats within 19-15, but Lewis would score six of the final seven points to cap the 25-16 set win.
 
Set 2
The second set belonged to Lewis as they hit .310 with 19 kills, while McKendree hit .189 with 11 kills, two aces and four blocks.
 
Lewis jumped in front 10-4 early in the set and led 13-9 when the Bearcats scored three of the next five points to pull within 15-12 following a kill by Binder. The Flyers, though, would respond with 7-4 run to push its lead to 22-16. Back-to-back kills from Preusser brought the Bearcats within 22-18, but Lewis closed the set by scoring three of the final five points to post a 25-20 win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Set 3
The third set was close early on until Lewis used a 7-4 run to turn a 2-all tie into a 9-4 lead. The lead grew to 14-7 when the Bearcats responded with a 9-2 run to force the third and final tie of the set at 16. The Bearcats run was aided by three kills from Preusser, who had seven of her 11 kills in the set.
 
Following McK's run, Lewis would score three straight points to take a 19-16 lead. The Bearcats, though, used a 4-2 run capped by a Binder kill to pull within 21-20. That would be as close as the Bearcats would get as Lewis closed out the set and the match by scoring the final four points to cap its 25-20 win.
 
Up Next
The Bearcats will return to action next weekend (Sept. 23-24) with home matches against both Illinois-Springfield on Sept. 23 at 6 p.m. and against Quincy on Sept. 24 at 3 p.m.