(Lebanon, Ill., Feb. 7) -- The McKendree University men's volleyball program lost in a five-set thriller against the #14 Fort Wayne Mastodons on Wednesday inside the Harry M. Statham Sports Center. It is the first time that Fort Wayne has defeated the Bearcats in Lebanon, as they improve to 9-1 overall with the victory, which was their first Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association match of the season. With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 3-6 overall, and 1-1 in conference play.

Senior Nolan Rueter led McKendree with 20 kills and five total blocks, while also recording eight digs. Junior libero Zach Thompson collected a team-high 15 digs, while senior setter Pasquale Fiduccia had 52 assists and nine digs on the evening. Jared Wilcox and Brendan Schmidt (O'Fallon, MO/Fort Zumwalt West) combined for 28 total kills, while red-shirt freshman Wyatt Dimke added five total blocks.

The Mastodons offense came from Colton Stone and Pelegrin Vargas, who contributed 19 and 18 kills respectively. Tomas Gago led Fort Wayne at the net with eight total blocks, and Richie Diedrich had seven. The Mastodons hit .265 as a team with 63 kills, while McKendree hit .203 with 62 kills.

In the first set, both teams traded points back-and-forth, fighting to a 23 all tie. The Bearcats would eventually earn six match points, of which Fort Wayne fought off five, until a Colton Stone attack error gave the set to McKendree at 30-28.

Down 14-8 in the second set, the Mastodons went on a 9-3 scoring run to even the score at 17 a-piece. The Bearcats recovered, and a kill from Pasquale Fiduccia gave them a 2-0 advantage in sets.

The next two sets were both close, hard fought battles, which Fort Wayne was able to grind out 25-21 and 25-23, forcing a fifth and decisive frame. The Mastodons used two Bearcats errors and a kill to score the final three points of the fifth, taking the set 15-13 and the match 3-2. 

The Bearcats will be back in action at home this Saturday, as they take on the Ball State University Cardinals at 7 pm in an MIVA match-up.