Box Score St. Louis - The Maryville volleyball squad dropped its Great Lakes Valley Conference opener to visiting McKendree by a 3-1 count Saturday evening in Moloney Arena. The Bearcats held off the Saints 25-21, 25-19, 18-25, 25-21. Maryville is back in action at home Sunday as the Saints welcome Illinois Springfield for a 1 p.m. match.
 
The Saints trailed in set one 9-8 before two consecutive kills by Hana Michael put Maryville up 10-9. Taryn Trubich served an ace for an 11-9 edge. The Saints eventually took a 13-10 lead on a Grace Balcerak kill. The Bearcats tied the game with three straight points but a McKendree hitting error handed the Saints a 14-13 lead. The visitors scored five straight points and eventually took the set.
 
Maryville led in the early going of set two and held a 4-2 edge before McKendree reeled off eight consecutive points to jump ahead. The Saints made a mini run with a Michael kill starting the run, and an Ashley Selman kill closing a 3-0 burst that drew Maryville to 14-11. McKendree scored two straight and kept the Saints from getting any closer than four points.
 
The Saints jumped to an early 3-0 lead before the Bearcats eventually tied the score at 9-9. McKendree built a 14-10 lead but the Saints tied the set at 15-15 on a tip by Trubich. The contest was still tied at 17-17 before the Saints scored four straight. Maddie Timmerman began the spree with a kill, and she teamed with Laura Welling to cap the run and give the Saints a 21-17 lead. McKendree added one more point but the Saints ended the set with four straight points.
 
Set four was close the entire way and featured 15 tied and eight lead changes. The last tie was at 20-20, and the Bearcats scored two points for a 22-20 margin. Michael had a kill to cut the deficit to one but McKendree scored the final four points of the match. The Bearcats improve to 4-1 overall, 1-0 in the GLVC.
 
The Saints even their record at 3-3 overall, 0-1 in the league. Selman and Welling tied for the team lead with nine kills apiece, while Michael added eight. Selman and Timmerman both accounted for four blocks. Ali Lampen paced the team with 21 digs, and Trubich handed out 21 assists.