LEBENON, ILL. – Truman State lost its third consecutive match Saturday after being swept at the McKendree (Ill.) Bearcats.
The 3-0 loss, the second in as many days, left the Bulldogs with a record of 2-7 in league action, 5-19 overall, while the Bearcats improved to 9-13 overall, 4-5 in GLVC play. Losses to Rockhurst (Mo.), Missouri-St. Louis, and McKendree come immediately following a five-match winning streak bookended around the 2024 Midwest Volleyball Crossover.
The Bearcats dominated Set 1 scoring 16 kills to 9 from the 'Dogs and winning the attack percentage battle .286 to .098. The framed opened with an 8-1 lead McKendree eventually expanded to 14-4 before the Purple and White came alive to win 8 of the next ten behind four kills from
Jessica Proszenyak. The 16-12 Bearcat lead marked the closest the Bulldogs managed to get as they failed to muster a single multi-point rally the rest of the way falling 25-16.
Set 2 featured the best Truman State attack of the day with 21 kills and a .273 attack percentage in the 25-23 loss. The strongest Bulldog mid-set attack came down 14-7 with three-consecutive points on two kills by
Michaela Goad and one from
Autumn Erickson. Proszenyak and Erickson notched two kills each when Truman State nibbled away at the deficit 17-12 and 18-15. One final gasp, when McKendree was withing sniffing distance of set point, came when three Goad kills combined with two Bearcat attack errors fueled a 5-1 run en route to a 25-23 loss.
McKendree's highest attack percentage of the afternoon, .304 in Set 3, proved to be the proverbial nail in the coffin in a 25-18 win.
Hannah Hosty tallied a kill to give the Bulldogs a 6-4 lead before a 14-2 run by the Bearcats essentially put the set and match out of reach.
The 13 kills from Proszenyak were her best showing since a 15-kill performance against Illinois Springfield on Oct. 3 while the Goad's 13 kills marked the 12th time the freshman outside hitter has reached double digits.
The Bulldogs play host to the University of Indianapolis - 6 p.m. Friday, Nov. 8 – in Pershing Arena.
