DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Flagler College held a 2-0 lead but McKendree University from Lebanon, Illinois was able to rally to win in five sets (21-22, 22-25, 25-23, 25-19, 15-8) Saturday evening at the ICI Center.

McKendree improved to 4-3 overall while Flagler dropped to 1-6.

Karlie Redfern recorded her third double-double of the season with a career-high 19 kills and she tied her career in digs with 19. She added four total blocks to her line. Raquel Kulak added 15 kills, hit .323 and collected five total blocks. Tara Savisky tallied 44 assists while Kayla Norelli corralled a season-high 28 digs. Logan Garcia added five total blocks.

Flagler used a balanced offensive attack in the first set with five players accounting for a total of 14 kills (Kulak led with four). The Saints used a 4-0 run to pull away from the Bearcats with an 18-13 lead after a Cadie O'Hern kill. McKendree would make a run of its own to cut the deficit to one (21-20), but two kills by Kulak, a block by Garcia, and a Savisky kill ended the set.

Redfern led the Saints in the second set with five kills and three total blocks. Flagler led by as many as six (15-9) and held a late 20-15 lead. The Bearcats rallied to tie the score at 21 and then took a 22-21 lead on a kill by Elle Russell. After a Flagler timeout, the Saints went on a 4-0 run to close out the set thanks to a hitting error by McKendree, a kill by Redfern, an ace by Sarah Schark, and a double-block by Garcia and Redfern.

The Bearcats took the next two sets to force a deciding fifth set. McKendree hit .448 in the fourth set with 14 kills and just one error on 29 swings while holding Flagler to a .189 percentage.

In the fifth set, the Saints sprinted out to a 5-2 lead after a Redfern ace, but the Bearcats answered by scoring the next four points. Kelly Voss had back-to-back kills, the last one gave McKendree a 6-5 lead.

Flagler re-took the lead (7-6) on a hitting error by McKendree's Megan Marks. A hitting error by Redfern and an ace gave the lead back to the Bearcats. McKendree closed the set on a 7-1 run.
Russell was one of three Bearcats to record a double-double. She recorded a team-high 17 kills and added 16 digs. Voss contributed 14 kills and 16 digs while Morgan Melchert tallied 56 assists and 13 digs. Marks added 11 kills and seven total blocks. Alissa Zeitelhack gathered 25 digs.

Flagler will head to the Greater New York City area next weekend for three matches. On Friday (Sept. 7) the Saints open at Molloy College in Rockville Center, New York at noon. After that, Flagler heads to Brookville, New York to face LIU-Post at 7 p.m.
 

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