Box Score (LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 28)—The McKendree University men's volleyball team made program history on a pair of fronts Saturday evening with its four-set victory at home against No. 12 IPFW. The Bearcats won by scores of 25-23, 23-25, 25-18 and 25-21.
 
Saturday's triumph marked the Bearcats' first-ever win in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) play. It was also McKendree's first victory against a nationally-ranked program. The Bearcats improve to 6-12 overall and 1-9 in MIVA play. McKendree will have a week off before heading to the Carolinas for a three-match non-conference road trip. First up will be a match at Belmont Abbey College on March 7. First serve is set for 7 p.m. ET.
 
"Our guys were focused tonight," said McKendree men's volleyball coach Nickie Sanlin. "They played well enough to win at IPFW last week (a five-set loss to the Mastodons on Feb. 21 in Fort Wayne, Ind.), and they wanted to make sure that they came out strong. They did that and we had a lot of guys who stepped up tonight. It's a great win for our program."
 
Against IPFW, freshman Jared Wilcox (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) led the charge with a match-high 21 kills, hitting .600 in the process. Freshman Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington) also reached double figures in attacks with 12 as he posted a .429 hitting percentage. As a team, the Bearcats hit .375 for the match.
 
Freshman setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) collected match-high totals of 49 assists and seven digs in the win for McKendree, while freshman middle blocker Brendan Schmidt (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) put down a match-high seven blocks.
 
Both teams came out in attack mode, as McKendree hit .409 in the opening set as IPFW (10-5, 4-3 MIVA) was even better at .476. After the Mastodons scored the opening point, the Bearcats used a 4-1 run to grab a lead it would not relinquish in the set. McKendree's largest lead in the set came at 17-11 following an IPFW attack error. The Mastodons made a run late in the set, pulling within a point on four different occasions before an IPFW service error gave McKendree the early lead.
 
The visitors knotted the contest by winning a tightly-contested second set that featured 12 ties and four lead changes. McKendree trailed most of the set but pulled even at 21-21 thanks to a kill by Schmidt. However, IPFW scored four of the final six points to grab the set two win.
 
Following the intermission, McKendree came out strong to start the third set. The Bearcats began the set with an 8-2 run, highlighted by two kills each from Wilcox and sophomore middle blocker Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka). Another attack by Walker gave McKendree its largest lead of the set at 18-11 as the Bearcats took a 2-1 lead in the contest.
 
The teams battled back and forth for the majority of the fourth set when McKendree broke a 15-15 tie with three straight points to grab an 18-15 advantage. Wilcox put down consecutive kills to finish off the burst for the Bearcats, who never trailed the rest of the night. McKendree was able to close out the upset and give the program its first-ever league victory. McKendree is in its first season as MIVA members.
 
Andrew Sellan paced IPFW with 12 kills, while Ramon Burgos was right behind with 11 attacks. Omar Rivera handed out 42 assists for the Mastodons.