(LEBANON, Ill., February 4) --The McKendree University men's volleyball team opened its Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association schedule Thursday evening with a matchup against Ball State University. The Bearcats dropped a five-set decision to Cardinals by scores of 25-23, 25-22, 15-25, 31-33 and 7-15.

The loss moves McKendree to 0-2 on the season and 0-1 in MIVA play. The Bearcats will wrap up their season opening home stand Saturday night when they take on Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne at 7 p.m. in the Harry M. Statham Sports Center.

McKendree utilized a balanced attack in the back and forth affair with four different Bearcats reaching double figures in kills. Sophomore outside hitter Jared Wilcox (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South), junior outside hitter Andrew Schnittker (Arlington Heights, IL/Buffalo Grove), and junior middle blocker Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) all tied for a team high with 12 kills each. Wilcox and Schnittker each tallied a double-double adding 11 and 13 kills respectively. Patterson put up a team high four blocks including one solo block to help stymie the Cardinals offense.

Sophomore outside hitter Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington) was the only other Bearcat to reach double digits in kills, landing ten to pair with ten digs. Junior middle blocker Michael Polizzi (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) landed five of his six attempts from the field, posting a .833 attack percentage.
Sophomore setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) handed out 46 assists adding seven digs and three blocks, including two solo blocks. Freshman libero Zach Thompson (Defiance, MO/Francis Howell) tied for a team high 13 digs from the back row for McKendree.

The Bearcats had a strong start to the night jumping out to a 7-4 lead in set number one with kills from Wilcox, Patterson, and Rueter. Ball State rallied to tie the match at seven, but McKendree went on a four point spree in part by a pair of aces from Polizzi to take a 13-9 lead. The Bearcats continued to score as Rueter connected with three kills to help extend the lead to 21-14. The Cardinals stormed back taking eight of ten points to cut the lead to just one, but could not overcome the early deficit and fell in set one by two points.

It was more of the same for McKendree in set two as the Bearcats once again opened with a 7-4 lead. McKendree would hold that lead until a three point run from Ball State finally overtook them to give the Cardinals their first lead of the night. The Bearcats were able to battle back and recapture the lead with a five point run thanks to three Ball State attack errors giving McKendree a 22-19 edge. The Cardinals once again cut that lead to one, but back to back kills from Fiduccia and Schnittker ended the rally and put the Bearcats up 2-0

Ball State streaked through set three to cut the lead to one extending the match to a fourth set, which was the turning point in the match. The teams traded the first 13 points of the set as the Cardinals took a 7-6 lead. Ball State continued to rally with a three point run to push their lead to 11-8. McKendree rallied taking four straight points including three kills from Patterson forcing a Ball State timeout as the Bearcats took a 15-14 advantage. The Cardinals responded taking six of seven points to retake the lead at 21-18. Ball State would relinquish their grasp after four straight points from the Bearcats put the Cardinals on the ropes at 24-23. The teams traded blows as McKendree forced match points five different times until Ball State was able to take three of the final four points to steal the fourth set and force a decisive fifth set.

The Cardinals capitalized on their momentum in the final set using a five point run to open a 7-3 lead and went on to take the match 3-2. Junior Brenden Surane had a match high 15 kills for Ball State, while senior Hiago Garchet added a match high 58 assists to lead the Cardinals offensively.