ST. LOUIS – The 11th ranked University of Missouri-St. Louis volleyball team held off a late rally to defeat McKendree 3-2 on Friday evening at the Melvin Price Convocation Center in Lebanon, Ill. The Tritons improve to 11-2, 2-1 GLVC while the Bearcats drop to 3-10, 1-2 GLVC.
UMSL led by as many as five midway through the opening set but a late run from McKendree tied it at 24 after a kill from Emma McIlhargie. The Tritons regained the lead on a kill from
Iyannah Jackson and won the frame after a kill from
Addison Voorhees.
UMSL led 18-16 in the second stanza but couldn't overcome a 9-1 run as the Bearcats rallied to win the second set 25-19 on a kill from Colleen Preusser.
The Tritons led for a majority of set three and were up 16-10 after a kill from Voorhees. McKendree rallied to within 16-13 but UMSL finished the set strong outscoring the Bearcats 9-3 the rest of the frame to win 25-16 and take a 2-1 lead in the match. Voorhees and
Brooklyn Young had four kills apiece in the set to lead the Tritons.
UMSL had a chance to close out the match leading 23-19 and 24-22 but couldn't close it out as the Bearcats scored the final four points of the stanza to win 26-24 and force a fifth and deciding set.
The Tritons used a 6-1 run early in the final frame to grab a five-point lead. McKendree cut the margin to two at 9-7 after a kill from Destiny Gray but wouldn't get any closer as UMSL finished the match on a 6-3 run to win 15-10.
UMSL hit .160 in the match with 67 kills against 33 errors in 212 attempts. Voorhees finished with a career-high 20 kills while Jackson added 15 kills and
Alayna Santel added 12 kills.
Caitlin Bishop handed out 57 assists,
Hannah Copeland added five blocks and
Skylar Weaver had a career-high 27 digs.
The Bearcats had 59 kills against 23 errors in 197 chances and had an attack percentage of .183. Gray had a team-high 17 kills and was joined in double figures by Preusser and McIlhargie with 14 kills each. Amber Williams had 36 assists, Avery Guisinger added 11 blocks and Ashlyn Berczynski finished with 21 digs.
The Tritons are back at home next Friday (Oct. 11) hosting Lewis at 6 p.m. at the Mark Twain Building.
