LEBANON, Ill. – The McKendree University women's volleyball team will open the home portion of its 2022 season here Friday by hosting UMSL and Maryville for a tri-match at the Melvin Price Convocation Center on the McKendree campus.
McKendree opens the tri-match on Friday, Sept. 9 at 11:30 a.m. against UMSL, before UMSL meets Maryville at 3:30 p.m. and then the Bearcats conclude the day with a 7:30 p.m. on Friday night against Maryville.
The Bearcats enter Friday's home non-conference tri-matches against Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC) foes sporting a 4-
4 overall record after splitting its four matches at last weekend's Hampton Inn Invitational hosted by Wisconsin-Parkside and held in Kenosha, Wis. At the event, the Bearcats opened with a three-set sweep over Minnesota-Crookston and a four-set win over then 19th-ranked Michigan Tech, before suffering back-to-back four set defeats to both Upper Iowa and Parkside.
ABOUT THE BEARCATS
McKendree has 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 eight matches this season as that duo has combined for 193 kills, 222 digs and 20 aces. Binder leads the team in kills (106), kills per set (3.42), digs (128) and is second in both aces (9) and blocks (19), while Pruesser is second in kills (87), kills per set (2.81), digs (94) and leads in aces with 11. In addition, those two have combined for nine double-doubles on the season as Binder has had five and Preusser has had four.
Four other Bearcats, who are coached by
Nickie Sanlin, have recorded over 30 kills on the season as senior middle blocker
Claire Diercks (Highland, Ill./Highland) has had 51 kills and is hitting .179, while sophomore outside hitter
Emma McIlhargie (Birch Run, Mich./Birch Run) has had 49 kills and is hitting a team-best .218. Senior outside hitter
Maddie Misner (Carbondale, Ill./Carbondale) and junior middle blocker
Lauren McCurley (Troy, Ill./Triad) have had 37 and 32 kills respectively on the season. Misner has also had 77 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 averaging a GLVC-best 10.39 assists and 2.32 digs per set and has had three double-doubles and was named to the All-Tournament Team at last weekend's Hampton Inn Invitational. At the Hampton Inn Invitational, Williams averaged 10.13 assists and 2.00 digs per set and added seven kills, three aces, seven blocks and hit .286. Additionally, she posted a double-double of 36 assists and 13 digs in the final match of the event against Parkside.
Defensively, the Bearcats are averaged a little over two blocks per set (2.06) on the season and are also averaging 16.94 digs per set, which is third-best in the GLVC. The Bearcats' eight foes are hitting just .163 on the season.
McCurley leads the way in blocking with 33 as she is averaging 1.10 blocks per set, which is sixth-best in the GLVC, while Diercks is right behind with 26 blocks as she is averaging 0.84 blocks per set. Three other Bearcats have recorded double-digit blocks through the eight matches as Binder has had 19, Williams has had 14 and Preusser has posted 10 blocks.
Williams wasn't the only Bearcat to earn All-Tournament Team honors at the Hampton Inn Invitational as freshman libero
Ashlyn Berczynski (Minooka, Ill./Minooka) was also honored after averaging 4.67 digs per set in 12 sets and three matches, including tallying 20 or more digs in two matches. She tallied 22 digs in her collegiate debut against Michigan Tech and had 21 digs against Upper Iowa.
As a team, McKendree has recorded 400 kills, 525 digs and 64 blocks in eight matches and is outhitting their foes, .177 to .163. In addition, McKendree has recorded 43 aces and leads the league in total attack attempts with 1,175.
ABOUT UMSL (6-2)
The Tritons comes into Friday's action sporting a 6-2 record after posting a 3-1 record at last weekend's UIndy Invitational. UMSL's two losses this season have come against Missouri S&T (3-0) in its season opener and against Minnesota-Duluth (3-2) in the first match of last weekend's UIndy Invitational.
Leading the way offensively for UMSL through the eight matches this season are graduate student outside hitter Charlotte Richards and senior outside hitter Lexie Rang. Both Richards and Rang have each record 100 kills on the year and are averaging 3.57 kills per set. Additionally, Richards leads in digs with 126 (4.50 per set) and is second in aces with 15, while Rang has had 71 digs, 15 blocks and is hitting .263.
Two other Tritons – senior outside hitter Hailey Flowers and freshman middle blocker Hannah Copleand – have had 50 or more kills on the year as Flowers has had 63 and is hitting .309, while Copeland has had 57 kills and is hitting a team-best .325.
Defensively, senior middle blocker Mya Elliott leads in blocks with 23, while Copeland has had 16 blocks and Rang has recorded 15 blocks.
The Tritons lead the league in aces with 69, including 20 from Richards, 15 from junior libero Kylie Adams and freshman setter Caitlin Bishop has had 14 assists.
As a team, UMSL is hitting .267 with 385 kills, 430 digs and 53 blocks and their opponents are hitting just .171 on the year.
UMSL was picked to finish second in the Preseason GLVC Coaches Poll after posting their third season of at least 20 wins in the last five seasons and their first-ever NCAA Tournament win a season ago against Lewis in the first round of the NCAA Midwest Regional. In the preseason poll, UMSL earned 131 points and three first place votes.
ABOUT MARYVILLE (7-1)
The Saints comes into Friday's action sporting a 7-1 overall record as they opened the season with six straight wins, before suffering a four-set loss to Purdue-Northwest at the Kentucky Wesleyan Invitational. Maryville, though, would rebound to win the finale of the event in three sets over Kentucky Wesleyan. The 7-1 start this season is the best for the Saints since 1993.
Leading the way offensively for Maryville is freshman outside hitter Ella Brinkman, who has recorded 117 kills, 110 digs and 11 aces and is hitting .261. In addition to Brinkman, two other Saints have recorded 50 or more kills on the season as freshman outside hitter Caroline Glastetter has had 76 kills and 14 blocks and is hitting .319, while freshman outside hitter Grace Graham has had 51 kills and his hitting .336 on the year.
Defensively, the Saints are paced by the play of junior libero Taylor Hasbrook, who has recorded 110 digs and is averaging 4.23 digs per set. Hasbrook was named this week's GLVC Defensive Player of the Week. Brinkman also had 110 digs on the season for the Saints.
Maryville uses a two-setter system as junior Abbie Schnell and freshman Rachel Schipper lead the way. Schnell has recorded 191 assists and leads the team with 13 aces, while Schipper has had 142 assists and 12 aces on the year.
As a team, Maryville is hitting .236 as they have recorded 408 kills, 480 digs, 41 blocks and 63 aces and Maryville's opponents are hitting just .113 on the season.
Maryville was tabbed to finish ninth in the Preseason GLVC Coaches Poll as the Saints earned 50 points to finish four points in front of McKendree, who was tabbed 10th and 16 points behind Illinois-Springfield, who was tabbed eighth.
UP NEXT FOR BEARCATS
Following Friday's tri-match at home, the Bearcats will remain at home in the Convocation Center as they open GLVC play on Friday, Sept. 16 with a 6 p.m. contest against the University of Indianapolis, before hitting the road for a 3 p.m. match on Saturday, Sept. 17 at Lewis University.
