LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's volleyball concluded a two-match weekend homestand here Saturday afternoon with a three-set loss to Quincy (21-25, 21-25, 21-25) in Great Lakes Valley Conference action at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
 
With the setback, McKendree fall to 6-8 overall and 2-2 in the GLVC, while Quincy, who received votes in this week's AVCA Division II Coaches' Poll, improved to 14-0 overall and 4-0 in the league. Quincy entered the weekend as one of six remaining undefeated teams in Division II women's volleyball.
 
Junior Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) led the offensively for the Bearcats with 11 kills and added 10 digs for her team-leading ninth double-double of the year.
 
In addition to Binder, junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) added seven kills and hit .583, while senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) added six kills and hit .385.
 
The Hawks held McKendree's No. 2 leader in kills on the season, junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) was held to four kills and hit -.080 for the match.
 
Sophomore setter Amber Williams (Aurora, Colo./Rhodes College) had 31 assists and added four digs and one of McKendree's six aces in the match.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats were outblocked, 10-3 as Diercks had two of those blocks.
 
Freshman libero Ashlyn Berczynski (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) paced the way in digs with a match-high tying 16.
 
QU, who has now 9-0 on the season in three-set matches, was paced by a 13 kill day from Emily Rehagen, while Mattison Morris added 11 kils, hit .308 and had 11 digs and Alice Pavan had 10 kills, three blocks and hit .692. American Galvan paced QU's defense with 16 digs and Alyssa Grimm had seven blocks.
 
For the match, QU outhit the Bearcats, .289 to .135.
 
Set 1
Quincy hit .258 and had four blocks, while holding McKendree to .116 in the opening set. Binder and McCurley paced the Bearcats with three kills, while Binder and Williams each had an ace in the set.
 
QU jumped in front 7-3 early in the set, but the Bearcats rallied to score six of the next seven points to take a 9-8 lead. The run was capped by an assisted from Preusser and Diercks. QU came right back as they scored five straight points to take a 13-9 lead.
 
The Bearcats would rally again as they used a 7-4 run to pull within 17-16 following an assisted blocked by McCurley and freshman outside hitter Lauren Harris (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn). That would be as close as McK would get as QU closed the set on an 8-5 run cap its 25-21 win.
 
Set 2
The second set was competitive as it featured 12 ties and three lead changes and McK used three aces in the set. QU hit .324 and held McK to a .118 attack percentage.
 
QU jumped out to a 7-6 lead early in the set, before the Bearcats scored three of the next four points to take a 9-8 lead following an ace by senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale).
 
The set remained close for much of the rest of the set until the Hawks scored six of the final eight points of the set to earn a 25-21 set win and take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Set 3
McKendree opened the third set by scoring five of the first eight points to lead 5-3 early in the set, before QU used an 8-2 run to take an 11-7 lead. The lead grew14-9, before the Bearcats used a 3-1 to pull within 15-12. QU would extend its lead to 18-13 and led 19-15 when the Bearcats used a 4-1 run keyed by two kills from Preusser to pull within 20-19. That would be as close as McK would get as the Hawks closed the set by scoring five of the final seven points to post its third straight 25-21 set win.
 
QU hit .297 with 14 kills in the set, while McK hit .179 with 15 kills, including six kills from Binder.
 
Up Next
The Bearcats return to the road next weekend (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) as they play GLVC matches at Truman State and William Jewell respectively.