Box Score (QUINCY, Ill., Feb. 18)—The McKendree University men's volleyball team battled host Quincy University for four competitive sets on Tuesday, but the Bearcats could not rally from a two-set deficit in suffering its first loss in its last three outings. The Hawks won by scores of 25-22, 25-19, 21-25 and 25-20.
McKendree drops to 3-13 on the year and will play its next two matches at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center, beginning with a 7 p.m. contest on Friday against Saint Ambrose University.
Freshman outside hitter
Dustin Borenstein (Highland Park, IL/Highland Park) paced the McKendree offensive attack with 11 kills, while freshman outside hitter Andy Schnittker added nine attack and a hitting percentage of .412. Freshman middle blocker
Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) connected for seven kills without an error, posting a team-best .467 hitting percentage. Patterson also registered a match-high seven blocks for the Bearcats.
Freshman setter Jack MacLean had 34 assists in the match, while freshman libero
Brice Miller (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) posted a team-leading eight digs from the back row.
McKendree led in the opening stages of the first set before Quincy (5-7) used an 8-1 run to build an 18-15 advantage. Following a timeout, the Bearcats rallied to tie the set at 20-20. The teams traded points before the Hawks scored four of the final five points to escape with the first-set win. Quincy took the lead early in the second set and never relinquished it to grab a 2-0 lead in the contest.
The Bearcats controlled the tempo in the third set, opening with a 7-3 run and stretching the margin to as many as seven points on three different occasions. Borenstein had five kills in the third-set victory. The teams traded leads throughout the fourth set before Quincy surged ahead for good thanks to a 9-2 run that pushed the Hawks out to a 21-15 lead.
Andrew Cavanaugh put down a match-high 17 kills to lead the way for Quincy, while Ian Lawson added 15 kills and Jack Gamache chipped in with 13 attacks and a team-best 10 digs. Brian Rogan handed out a match-leading 47 assists for the Hawks.
The teams will meet again on March 29 at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center in Lebanon.
