(LEBANON, Ill., Feb. 6) – The McKendree University volleyball team claimed its first victory of the season Saturday night topping Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foe  Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne in five sets at the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. The Bearcats won by scores of 18-25, 26-24, 25-15, 24-26, and 15-12.

The win moves McKendree to 1-2 overall on the season and 1-1 in MIVA play. The Bearcats will return to action Feb. 11 as they begin a four match road trip with Lewis University in Romeoville, IL.

McKendree was paced by junior middle blocker Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) who tallied a .480 attack percentage on his way to a 14 kills, seven block performance. Sophomore middle blocker Brendan Schmidt (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) made his season debut finishing second in kills with 12, while posting eight blocks, including two solos. Junior opposite Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) put down nine kills while adding nine digs and three blocks in his first action of the season after missing the first two matches of the season due to injury.

Sophomore outside hitter Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington) tabbed nine kills, 13 digs, and seven blocks, while sophomore setter Pasqualee Fiduccia had a match high 51 assists and 12 digs to notch a double-double  for the Bearcats. Sophomore outside hitter Jared Wilcox (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) put down eight kills along with eight digs, and freshman libero Zach Thompson (Defiance, MO/Francis Howell) stuck a team high 14 digs to aid McKendree defensively.

IPFW started the match hot jumping out to a 12-5 advantage in set one. The Bearcats battled back, cutting the lead to just four at 18-14, but could not overcome the early deficit and fell in set number one.

The teams traded blows early in set two, exchanging points until the Mastodons capitalized on two straight errors to take a 9-7 edge. McKendree responded to tie the set at nine after back to back points. Once again the teams fought back and forth until the Bearcats were able to rattle off three straight points on IPFW attack errors to take a 17-14 lead. The Mastodons seemed to fall apart down the stretch as McKendree scored five of its final six points on IPFW errors as the Bearcats tied the match at one.

McKendree steamrolled the third set, bursting out to a 10-3 lead with kills from Wilcox, Schmidt, Rueter, and Walker. The Bearcats extended that lead to 11 after taking three straight points including a pair of kills from Patterson. The Mastodons showed signs of life as they cut the lead to just four after taking seven of nine points, but McKendree kept their foot on the gas taking the final five points of the set to win by ten.

It was more of the same in set four as the Bearcats used two four point runs to take an early 13-6 lead, the latter of which consisted of four straight points from Patterson with a pair of kills and pair of blocks. The teams traded points until McKendree put the Mastodons on the ropes at match point with a 24-19 lead. IPFW grinded it out cutting the lead to 24-21 to force a Bearcats timeout and went on to take the final five points of the set to force a decisive fifth set.

McKendree showed their resolve in the final set as Fiduccia got things started with an ace, helping the Bearcats take an early 4-1 lead. After trading points to make the score 6-3, McKendree took three of the next four to open up a five point advantage midway through the set. The Mastodons were able to cut the lead to one, but back-to-back kills from Schmidt reaffirmed the lead and forced an IPFW timeout. Kills from Wilcox and Rueter put the Mastodons on the ropes for the second straight set, with the Bearcats able to finish the job taking two of the final three points, capped off by a Patterson kill to clinch the set and the match.

Andrew Sellan had a match high 22 kills for IPFW. David Frazee added a match high 11 blocks, while Luis Bertran tallied a match high 18 digs.