LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's volleyball team posted its second straight home victory here Friday evening in Great Lakes Valley Conference play by posting a four-set victory over the University of Illinois-Springfield (25-22, 26-24, 24-26, 25-23) at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the win, McKendree improves to 6-7 overall and 2-1 in the GLVC, while UIS fell to 5-7 overall and 1-2 in the league. The Bearcats also moved in four-way tie for fourth place in the league standings with the win.
 
Four Bearcats had double-digit kill performances and four had double-digit dig efforts on the night.
 
Junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) posted her team-leading eighth double-double of the season as she had 21 kills and added 21 digs and hit .314. In addition to Binder, junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) added 14 kills, including six in the first set, while senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) and freshman outside hitter Lauren Harris (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn) each had 10 kills and Harris hit a team-best .435.
 
The other double-double in the match for the Bearcats was recorded by sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) as she had 47 assists and 14 digs.
 
Along with the 21 digs from Binder and 14 digs from Williams, the other Bearcats with double-digit digs in the match were senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) as she had 17 and sophomore defensive specialist Keely Davis (Terre Haute, Ind./Terre Haute North Vigo) had 12 digs and had one of McKendree's five aces.
 
Junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) tallied a match-high seven blocks as McKendree held a 10-6 edge in blocks in the match. McCurley also added five kills and hit .308.
 
Freshman libero Ashlyn Berczynski (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) tallied a career high three aces.
 
As a team, McKendree hit .259 to UIS' .155. The Bearcats had the advantage in kills (63-53), digs (80-66) and each team had five aces, but the Bearcats committed 14 service errors.
 
UIS was paced by 21 kills and 15 digs from Angela Denney, while Eirini Glynou added 17 kills, while Amanda McConnell paced the Prairie Stars' defense with 20 digs.
 
Set 1
McKendree jumped in front 8-2 in the early in the opening set, before UIS used a 6-3 run to pull within 11-8. McK responded with a 6-2 run capped by a Preusser kill to push in front 16-10. The visitors wouldn't go away as they scored 10 of the next 16 points to cut McK's lead to 22-20. The Bearcats, though, closed out the set by scoring three of the final five points, including sealing the 25-22 win with a kill by Preusser.
 
The Bearcats hit .167 in the set and had 16 kills, including a combined 14 kills from Preusser (6), Binder (4) and Diercks (4). UIS finished the set with an .053 attack percentage with eight kills and three blocks.
 
Set 2
The second set was a back-and-forth affair as the teams combined for 12 ties and four lead changes. UIS jumped out to an early 5-3 lead and led 10-9 when the Bearcats used a 5-2 run keyed by three Binder kills to take a 14-12 lead.
 
McKendree would eventually push its lead to 23-19, before a service error by Binder jumpstarted a 4-1 run by the Prairie Stars to force a tie at 23. McK would cap the win thanks to back-to-back attack errors by UIS, including Harris and Diercks combining for an assisted block to cap the 26-24 lead.
 
McK hit .292 and had 17 kills in the second set, while UIS hit .140 with 15 kills. Binder had eight kills and hit .571 in the set for the Bearcats, while Denney had seven kills and hit .316 for the Prairie Stars.
 
Set 3
The Bearcats jumped in front 9-5 early in the third set, including Berczynski capping the run with three consecutive aces. After UIS scored three of the next four points to pull within 10-8, the Bearcats used a 9-6 run capped by back-to-back kills from Harris and Preusser to push in front, 19-14. From that point, UIS responded with an 8-4 run to pull within 23-22. A kill by Binder gave the Bearcats at 24-22 lead, but a service error on match point from graduate student Skyler Sieber (Naples, Fla./Montevallo) helped UIS score the final three points of the set to post a 26-24 win to force a fourth set.
 
UIS hit .250 with 16 kills, including a combined 12 kills from Denney and Glynou, while McK hit .205 with 12 kills and had four aces and three blocks.
 
Set 4
The fourth set was another close one as it featured seven ties and five lead changes as neither team would hold a lead of more than two points until McK used a 4-0 run capped by back-to-back kills from Harris to give the Bearcats 10-7 lead. The Bearcats' lead grew to as much as 19-15, before UIS used a 5-1 run to tie the set at 20-all.
 
An attack error by Glynou helped begin a 4-0 run by McK that was aided by three attack errors by UIS to take a 24-20 lead. The Prairie Stars, though, scored two straight points to pull within 24-23, before a kill by Harris sealed McKendree's 25-23 set and match win.
 
The Bearcats hit. 394 with 18 kills, including six kills from Binder and five kills from Harris, while UIS hit .175 with 14 kills.
 
Up Next
McKendree continues is two-match GLVC homestand on Saturday, Sept. 24 with a 3 p.m. contest against Quincy (13-0, 3-0), who received votes in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches Poll and the Hawks are one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division II women's volleyball.