LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree University women's volleyball continues Great Lakes Valley Conference play this weekend as the Bearcats return to the road for a pair of matches against Truman State University and William Jewell College.
 
The Bearcats open the weekend on Friday, Sept. 30 with a 6 p.m. match against Truman State in Kirksville, Mo., before concluding the road swing with a 4 p.m. match on Saturday, Oct. 1 in Liberty, Mo., against William Jewell.
 
McKendree comes into this weekend's play sporting a 6-8 overall record and a 2-2 mark in the GLVC after splitting its two home matches last weekend with Illinois-Springfield and Quincy. The Bearcats opened the weekend with a four-set win over UIS, before suffering a three-set loss to Quincy, who is one of the two remaining undefeated teams in Division II women's volleyball on the year.
 
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
The Bearcats have been led offensively thus far this season by the play of junior outside hitter Brianna Binder (Littleton, Colo./Dakota Ridge) and junior outside hitter Colleen Preusser (St. Charles, Mo./Lutheran) through the first 14 matches this season as that pair have combined for 332 kills, 361 digs, 48 blocks and 27 aces. In addition, those two are hitting a combined .171 as Binder is hitting .175 and Preusser is hitting .166. Binder leads the team and is fourth in the league in kills per set as she is averaging 3.67 per set and is second in the league in attacks per set as she is averaging 11.20 attacks per set, while Preusser is averaging 2.79 kills per set and 8.25 attacks per set. In addition, those two have combined for 14 double-doubles on the season as Binder has had a team-best nine and Preusser has had five.
 
Four other Bearcats, who are coached by Nickie Sanlin, have recorded 50 or more kills on the season as senior middle blocker Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) has had 75 kills, while junior middle blocker Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) has had 58 and is third in the GLVC in blocks with 59. Senior outside hitter Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) has had 57 kills and 10 aces and freshman outside hitter Lauren Harris (Woodlawn, Ill./Woodlawn) has had 52 kills and is hitting .248 on the year.
 
In GLVC play, Binder is averaging 4.07 kills and 3.73 digs per set, while Preusser is averaging 3.33 kills and 3.20 digs per set and McCurley is averaging 1.27 blocks and 1.53 kills per set.
 
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 10.04 per set and is averaging 2.50 digs per set and is fifth in blocks with 18. Williams has recorded seven double-doubles on the year.
 
Defensively, the Bearcats are third in the league in digs per set as they are averaging 17.27 per set and are sixth in blocks per set as they are averaging 2.02 per set. The Bearcats have had six or more blocks in a match nine times, including a season-high 14 blocks in its four-set win over then 19th-ranked Michigan Tech at the Hampton Inn Invitational in Kenosha, Wis. Additionally, McKendree's foes are hitting .188 on the season.

McCurley's 1.18 blocks per set average are second-best in the GLVC. She has recorded five or more blocks in match six times this season, including a high of 10 blocks in McK's win over Michigan Tech. Along with McCurley, Diercks is second in blocks with 35 and is averaging 0.67 per set. Five other Bearcats have had double-digit blocks on the year as Binder has had 26, Pruesser has had 22, Williams has had 18, Harris has had 12 and Misner 10 blocks on the year.

As a team, McKendree has recorded 659 kills, 898 digs, 105 blocks and 67 aces and is hitting .174 as a team. The Bearcats are third in the GLVC and 11th nationally in Division II in team attacks per set as they are averaging 38.21 per set.
 
ABOUT TRUMAN STATE (0-12, 0-4 GLVC)
The Bulldogs, who were tabbed to finish 13th in the Preseason GLVC Coaches' Poll, comes into Friday's match with McKendree sporting an 0-12 overall record and an 0-4 mark in the GLVC. Dating to last season, Truman State has lost 17 consecutive matches, including nine straight GLVC matches since picking up a five-set win at home over Lindenwood on Oct. 30, 2021.
 
Leading the way offensively for Truman State is junior outside hitter Hanna Berry, who is averaging 2.21 kills and 0.56 blocks per set, while freshman outside hitter Jessica Proszenyak is averaging 2.24 kills and 2.17 digs per set and leads the team in aces with 24 and freshman outside hitter Annabelle Crowder is averaging 1.80 kills and 2.28 digs per set.
 
Defensively, Truman State is paced by the play of freshman libero Lexi Arnel, who is averaging 4.17 digs per set, while junior middle blocker Allison Beaton is averaging 0.95 blocks per set and his hitting .204 on the year.
 
Truman uses a two-setter system as freshman setter Emma Baierl is averaging 4.82 assists and 1.90 digs per set, while senior setter Rachel DeFries is averaging 3.22 assists and 1.95 digs per set.
 
As a team, Truman State, who has had two NCAA Division II National Runner-up finishes  and has made 16 appearances in the NCAA Tournament, is hitting .119 and their opponents are hitting .237. The Bulldogs have recorded 433 kills, 600 digs, 75 blocks and 69 aces in 12 matches this season.
 
Truman holds a 7-6 all-time record against McKendree, but McKendree has won three of its last four matches overall, including picking up a four-set win last season in Lebanon over the Bulldogs.
 
ABOUT WILLIAM JEWELL (7-10, 0-4 GLVC)
The Cardinals, who host Maryville on Friday before facing McKendree on Saturday, comes into this weekend's action having lost six straight matches since picking up back-to-back wins against East Central (3-1) and Arkansas-Monticello (3-0) on Sept. 9 and Sept. 10 respectively. WJC's most recent losses came last weekend at both Missouri S&T (0-3) and at UMSL (1-3).
 
William Jewell has five players that have recorded over 100 kills on the season, including sophomore Bella LaPorta leading the way with 232 kills and is averaging 3.41 kills per set and is averaging 3.00 digs per set and leads the team in aces with 20. LaPorta is 16th among Division II players and leads the GLVC in kills with 215. In addition to LaPorta, senior middle blocker Tatum Ernt and junior outside hitter Anna Godfredsen have each had 142 kills, while Ernt is hitting .308. The other two Cardinals with 100 or more kills are sophomore right side hitter Katy Garrison (121) and freshman middle blocker Alex Dvorak (120).
 
The Cardinals run a two-setter system as sophomore setter Samantha Thompson and freshman setter Drew Baxter lead the way. Thompson is averaging 6.15 assists and 2.01 digs per set, while Baxter is averaging 4.20 assists per set.
 
Defensively, Jewell is averaging 1.81 blocks per set as Ernt is averaging 0.82 blocks per set and Dvorak is averaging 0.54 blocks per set, while they are averaging 16.49 digs per set with senior libero Haiden Baade leading the way with 4.41 digs per set. Her 280 total digs are tops in the league and she is just 12 digs shy of becoming the fourth player in school history to record 1,000 career digs.
 
As a team, Jewell is 11th nationally with 844 kills and is averaging 12.41 kills per set on the season.
 
McKendree holds a 9-6 record against William Jewell and the Bearcats have won two matches against the Cardinals, including picking up a five-set win last season at home against Jewell.

UP NEXT
Following this weekend's action, the Bearcats will return home to the Melvin Price Convocation Center next weekend (Oct. 7-8) as they host matches against Rockhurst University and Southwest Baptist University at 6 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively.