(Lebanon, Ill., Feb. 3) --The McKendree University men's volleyball team dropped a five set decision to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association foe Indiana University Purdue University-Fort Wayne Friday night in Fort Wayne Indiana. The Bearcats fell by scores of 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 25-21, and 19-17.

The loss moves McKendree to 5-7 overall and 1-1 in MIVA play this season. The Bearcats return to action tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. EST against No. 12 Ball State University in Muncie, IN.

Senior opposite Maalik Walker (Shorewood, IL/Minooka) put down a team high 16 kills for Mckendree to go with five digs and four blocks. Senior middle blocker Wyatt Patterson (Flossmoor, IL/Homewood-Flossmoor) and junior outside hitter Jared Wilcox (Warrenville, IL/Wheaton-Warrenville South) each tabbed 13 kills with Patterson hitting .722 from the field to pair with three blocks, while Wilcox added two digs and three blocks. Junior outside hitter Nolan Rueter (Burlington, WI/Burlington) also reached double figures for the Bearcats with 10 kills, adding four aces, six digs, and two blocks.

Junior setter Pasquale Fiduccia (Hanover Park, IL/Glenbard North) passed out a team high 50 assists, and finished one digs shy of a double-double with nine, along with a three blocks. Senior middle blocker Michael Polizzi (St. Louis, MO/DeSmet Jesuit) put down six of his seven attacks to go with a match high five blocks, while sophomore libero Zach Thompson (Defiance, MO/Francis Howell) added 10 digs and two assists from the back row for McKendree.

The Bearcats used a 6-2 run to take a 7-5 lead in the first set thanks to a pair of kills from Walker. Fort Wayne responded with four straight points including back to back aces to push ahead 11-8 before extending the lead to 18-12. McKendree pulled within four at 18-14, but were unable to make up the ground and dropped set one to the Mastodons by eight.

Walker tallied two more kills as the Bearcats took a quick 3-1 lead to open the second set. Fort Wayne flipped the script with a 3-0 run to take a one point lead before moving ahead by two at 10-8. A kill from Wilcox and an ace from Patterson squared the set at 10, before Wilcox and Walker sandwiched kills around a pair of blocks to give McKendree a 14-13 lead. Patterson and Walker connected on back to back attacks to give the Bearcats an 18-16 edge, but the Mastodons fired back 6-3 run to go in front 22-21. Rueter and Patterson bookended a 3-0 spree with a kill each to force set point at 24-22 before Rueter tacked on another kill to even the match a one set each.

McKendree broke a back and forth opening in set three with a 5-1 run to take a 13-10 lead in the third. The Bearcats held steady at 16-13 before surrendering a 6-0 run to give the Mastodons a three point edge at 21-18. McKendree rallied to tie the set at 23 after Rueter, Patterson, and Walker all landed kills, but back to back errors handed set three to Fort Wayne.

The Mastodons withstood a pair of kills from Patterson to take a 12-9 lead early in the fourth set. The Bearcats battled back using a 5-0 run to take a 14-12 advantage before adding three straight kills with two coming from the right hand of Wilcox to push the margin to 19-15. Fort Wayne used a 4-1 run to trim the lead to 23-21, but McKendree countered with a kill from Walker and an ace from Rueter to force a decisive fifth set.

Walker put down three straight kills as part of a 4-0 run to give the Bearcats a 4-2 lead in the race to 15. The Mastodons replied with a 5-1 run to capture a 7-5 lead, but the Bearcats mirrored Fort Wayne taking five of the next six points capped off with back to back aces from Rueter to go ahead 10-8 and force a timeout from the Mastodons. For Wayne tied the set at 12, but McKendree capitalized on kills Wilcox and Rueter to match point at 14-13. The Mastodons took three of the next four points to take a 16-15 lead and force a timeout from the Bearcats. Wilcox tagged a kill to tie the set at 17, but the Mastodons were able to scratch together the final two points of the set to earn the win.