Box Score
LEBANON, Ill. - Meghan Binkerd had 50 assists, nine digs and five kills as No. 9 UIndy volleyball was able to win its Great Lakes Valley Conference road opener, 3-1 (25-23, 25-22, 21-25, 25-19), against McKendree on Friday night at the Melvin Price Convocation Center. The Greyhounds extended their winning streak to seven in a row and improved to 3-0 in true road matches.
Many of Binkerd's assists went to senior
Kristina Kerrigan with 25 kills on .286 attacking and 14 digs. Fellow senior
Kourtney Crawford hit .318 with 10 kills, while freshman
Hailey Brown added 10 kills.
The Greyhounds (10-2, 4-0 GLVC) held the Bearcats (5-7, 1-3 GLVC) to .073 attacking as senior
Amy Oldenburg led the way with 22 digs and
Julia Watkins added four blocks.
UIndy was able to finish with 60 kills, 26 more than McKendree, but was victimized by 11 Bearcat blocks as part of 36 total errors. The Greyhounds also tallied six aces (two each by Kim Trojan and
Kenzie Bruggeman), but missed 10 serves.
The first set was just a one-point difference, 11-10, when UIndy went on a 5-1 run to increase its lead, 16-11, after
Brittany Anglemyer and Trojan traded kills and aces. The Greyhounds were able to grow the lead to six, 22-16, and eventually reached set point on a Brown kill, 24-19. McKendree stopped the first with a kill and then UIndy committed three errors in a row before McKendree halted its rally with an error on the fifth set point, 25-23. Kerrigan hit .556 with six kills as UIndy totaled 15 in the set and held the Bearcats to 10.
The Greyhounds scored the first three points of the second and then went on a 9-1 run to lead by eight, 12-4, after a solo block by Brown. The Bearcats were able to slowly rally and closed within two, 20-18, after an ace by Maddie Kelly. Back-to-back kills by Brown and Kerrigan pushed the lead back to four, 23-19, and Kerrigan ended the set with a kill, 25-22. Kerrigan added six more kills and hit .455, while UIndy limited McKendree to -.029 attacking with five kills and six errors. Nine attack errors and four service errors by UIndy is what allowed the Bearcats to stay close.
McKendree scored seven of the first 10 points in the third set and never allowed UIndy to have the lead. The Bearcats held a lead of as many as six, 20-14, when the Greyhounds tried to rally. A 6-2 run pulled the Hounds within two, 22-20, and they were still in range, 23-21, after a Binkerd kill. The Bearcats were able to respond with a block and kill to extend the match, 25-21. UIndy actually hit negative, -.024, with 11 kills and 12 errors, while McK hit .135 with 11 kills and six errors.
UIndy scored the first four points of the fourth and eventually led by five, 16-11, after a Kerrigan kill. McKendree rallied again with an 8-2 run to take the lead, 19-18, but wouldn't score again. Bruggeman registered a kill to give herself the serve she would not relinquish as she ended it with an ace on match point, 25-19. Kerrigan stepped up to hit .400 with seven kills as UIndy hit a match-high .213 in the set with 17 kills. McKendree had just eight kills and hit .075.
Hannah Wessel led the Bearcats with 10 kills, while Kelly paced all players with 23 digs.
UIndy heads to Bellarmine (6-2, 3-1 GLVC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. The Knights swept Saint Joseph's, 3-0, on Friday night at Knights Hall.
