Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 27)—The McKendree University men's volleyball team opened a season-high eight-match home stand Tuesday night with a four-set victory over Missouri Baptist University at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. McKendree won by scores of 25-22, 23-25, 26-24, 25-23.
The Bearcats used late rallies in each of the sets they won against the Spartans to collect the non-conference victory. McKendree moves to 3-5 overall and will have a week off before playing host to Lindenwood University in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) play. First serve is set for 7 p.m. It will mark the Bearcats' first-ever MIVA home match.
Sophomore right-side hitter
Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) led the charge for McKendree with 15 kills while adding five blocks. Freshman opposite
Jared Wilcox (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) contributed 13 kills along with a match-high five service aces for the Bearcats. Freshman middle blocker
Brendan Schmidt (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) added nine kills while hitting .615 in the match, committing just one error in 13 total attacks in the win.
Freshman setter
Ian Zalewski (Orland Park, IL/Carl Sandburg) handed out a match-high 40 assists, while freshman libero
Evan Lockwood (Maitland, FL/Winter Park) handled a match-best 10 digs in the back row for the Bearcats.
McKendree trailed for much of the first set before using a 7-1 run to grab its first lead of the night at 22-21. Missouri Baptist was able to knot the score before kills from Schmidt, Walker and sophomore middle blocker
Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) closed out the set. The Spartans survived another comeback bid in the second set, holding on for the two-point win to even the match at a set apiece.
In the pivotal third set, McKendree trailed by as many as seven points before scratching back within 23-20 on a service error by Missouri Baptist. The Spartans scored the next point and were on the brink of taking a 2-1 lead in sets before the Bearcats reeled off the final six points to steal the victory and seize the advantage. Schmidt had a pair of kills during the burst, including one that gave McKendree the lead for good at 25-24.
The teams battled back and forth in the early stages of the fourth set when McKendree took the lead for good by scoring four of five points to build a 21-20 lead following an attack by Wilcox. Walker then put down his final kill of the night, and Wilcox served up his fifth ace of the match to set up set point for the Bearcats at 24-21. Missouri Baptist fought off two set points before a Spartans' service error completed the victory for McKendree.
Mico Janicijevic put down a match-high 20 kills to lead Missouri Baptist (3-2). Chris Flood added 11 attacks, while Kyle Foley dished out 36 assists for the Spartans. The teams will meet one more time this season on March 16 in St. Louis.
