Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., March 14)—The McKendree University men's volleyball team kicked off its own McKendree Crossover Classic Friday afternoon with a three-set loss to King University. The Bearcats were defeated by scores of 25-19, 25-19 and 25-20.
The loss drops McKendree to 7-17 overall this season. The Bearcats will wrap up the two-day event on Saturday with a pair of matches. McKendree will open the day at 11 a.m. with a contest against Belmont Abbey College before playing the final match of the day at 2 p.m. against Barton College.
Freshman outside hitter
Dustin Borenstein (Highland Park, IL/Highland Park) was the lone McKendree to reach double figures in kills with 11. Freshman middle blocker
Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) chipped in with nine attacks, while freshman right-side hitter
Eric Abrolat (Ballwin, MO/Marquette) added five kills. Freshman setter Jack MacLean helped out with 30 assists, and freshman libero
Brice Miller (O'Fallon, IL/Althoff Catholic) collected 10 digs for the Bearcats.
In the first set, the teams traded leads four times, with King holding advantage throughout the early stages. A kill from freshman outside hitter Mike Polizzi capped a run of three consecutive points to push the Bearcats out to a 16-15 lead. Both teams traded points until the Tornado overcame a 19-18 McKendree lead by scoring the final seven points of the set to steal the first-set win.
King broke open a tight second set with a 5-1 run to build an 18-13 lead. McKendree battled back and pulled to within 20-18 following a kill from Borenstein, but the Tornado stormed away down the stretch by scoring five of the final six points to build a two-set lead in the contest.
McKendree stayed close throughout the third set, overcoming four different three-point deficits to rally within 19-18 on another attack from Borenstein. At that point, King duplicated its strong finishing kick from the first two sets, scoring six of the final seven points to close out the sweep.
Eddie Moushikhian led all players with 13 kills for King, while Nick Serowski added 11. Jeff Bosslet dished out a match-high 38 assists for the Tornado.
