(Lebanon, Ill., Jan. 12) --The McKendree University men's volleyball team dropped a 3-0 decision to No. 4 Brigham Young University Thursday evening in Provo, UT. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-16, 25-19, and 25-20.

The loss drops McKendree to 0-5 and marks the fifth straight opponent the Bearcats have faced that ranks in the top 12 nationally. McKendree returns to action tomorrow at Noon MT against Concordia Irvine before wrapping up the weekend with a rematch against BYU on Sunday.

The Bearcats were led by senior opposite Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) who put down nine kills to go with three digs and a pair of blocks. Junior outside hitter Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington) added eight kills, while sophomore outside hitter Will Frank (Moro, IL/Edwardsville) tallied seven kills to pair with six digs. Junior setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) dished out 27 assists along with four digs and two kills, and sophomore libero Zach Thompson (Defiance, MO/Francis Howell) added five digs from the back row for McKendree.

BYU earned the first three points of the match, but the Bearcats bounced back as they matched the Cougars with a 3-0 run of their own after a kill from senior middle hitter Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) and an ace from senior middle blocker Michael Polizzi (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) evened the score. BYU tallied another 3-0 spree to move ahead nine six before taking four of five points to push ahead 14-9. Patterson and Reuter each put down a kill as the score shifted to 15-11, but the Cougars put together a 7-2 run to push the margin to eight and went on to take the first set by nine.

Frank and Rueter put down kills to open the second set for the Bearcats, but a 9-2 run from BYU gave the Cougars a 12-5 advantage. Frank connected on back to back swings to start a 3-1 run to pull McKendree within five at 14-9 before another 4-1 run from the Bearcats trimmed the BYU lead to 17-13 that included a pair of kills from Rueter. The Cougars responded with four of the next six points however and would go on to take the second set by six.

McKendree started hot in the third set as a pair of blocks from Walker and a kill and an ace from Rueter gave the Bearcats a 4-1 lead. The Cougars counted with a 4-0 run to move ahead by one, but McKendree responded with four straight points to jump back in front 8-5. The teams traded kills before a 3-0 run from BYU put the Cougars ahead 14-12 before the Bearcats took four of the next six points to tie the set at 16. BYU rattled off a 4-1 before McKendree landed back to back points to pull within one at 20-19. The Cougars continued to score with a 3-0 run before closing the set with back to back kills to earn the win.