Bolivar, Mo. - The SBU Volleyball team were back at home for their last weekend of conference play as they faced their GLVC mascot twin, the McKendree University Bearcats. SBU would take McKendree to five sets but would ultimately fall 2-3 to the McKendree Bearcats making them 14-14 (3-9 GLVC) on the season.
SBU started off with a dominating win in the first set against McKendree, winning 25-15. McKendree, however, would respond back by winning the second and third set, 25-22. The SBU Bearcats would not go down that easy as they found their rhythm after going on a 11-point run and winning the fourth set 25-10. Unfortunately, SBU would be unable to keep this rhythm as they lost the fifth set 9-15.
Sophomore Ella Rademaker led the Bearcats with 17 kills and a hitting percentage of .306. Senior Loran Pritchett and sophomore Katie Pogue also set a season-high tonight in aces as Pritchett had 5 aces, along with 10 kills and 15 digs, and Pogue had 3 aces. Along with Pritchett and Pogue, two SBU freshman also recorded a season high as Emma Bond had 27 digs while Rory Stanley had 9 kills and 9 blocks to give her 14 points for tonight's game.
Southwest Baptist will be back in action tomorrow as they wrap up the 2023 season against the #2 team in the country, the University of Missouri – St. Louis. The Bearcats will also be having their Senior Day as they honor 3 seniors before their game at the Meyer Sports Center at 1:00 PM.