LEBANON, Ill.—The Bellarmine University volleyball team fell in four sets (22-25, 26-24, 10-25, 21-25) to the homestanding McKendree Bearcats on Saturday night in a Great Lakes Valley Conference match at the Statham Center.
 
Perhaps helping to soften the sting of a loss is the achievement of a major milestone by Bellarmine setter Allie Muha. The junior became just the fourth Knight to eclipse the 3,000 assist plateau in a career. With 41 assists tonight, Muha sits at 3,031 for her career.
 
In tonight's match, Bellarmine simply could not slow down the McKendree attack, posting just three team blocks. The Bearcats swung at a .288 clip for the match with three different players recording double-digit kills. Arela Williams paced McKendree with 20 kills while hitting .286.
 
Bellarmine's Margaret Horihan led all hitters with 21 kills with Hayden Dailey adding nine and Ashley Jefferson chipping in with eight.
 
Muha posted her 10th double-double of the year, adding 13 digs to her 41 assists while Jordyn Kuchenbrod led the Bellarmine defensive effort with 22 digs.
 
McKendree improves to 20-9 on the season and boasts the GLVC's second-best record at 15-2. The Knights fall to 19-11 overall and 8-9 in conference play.  
 
The loss officially ends Bellarmine's hopes for qualifying for GLVC postseason play. Only eight teams advance to the GLVC Championship, and with just one match remaining in the regular season eight teams have already assured themselves a conference record of at least 10-8. The Knights best-possible  GLVC record is 9-9. Bellarmine will attempt to achieve that mark as well as post a 20-win season when they take on Illinois Springfield at 4 p.m. (EST) tomorrow.
 
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