(LEBANON, Ill., March 15) - The McKendree University men's volleyball team swept Lindenwood University, 3-0 Friday night in St. Charles, Mo. The Bearcats are now 9-8 overall on the season and 6-4 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA).

McKendree earned a .384 team hitting percentage in the match with 38 total kills compared to the Lions .157 team hitting percentage. The Bearcats also out-blocked Lindenwood, 8-2 in the sweep and recorded nearly double the amount of digs as the Lions, tallying 40 total digs whereas the Lions only collected 22.

The first set was the closest margin and competition but the Bearcats won 25-23 and set a precedence for how the remainder of the match would go. With a strong team performance, McKendree was able to earn the sweep and win set two 25-19 and set three 25-17.

Junior opposite Zach Schnittker (Arlington Heights, IL/Buffalo Grove) led the offensive efforts for the Bearcats with 11 total kills in the match. Freshman outside hitter Brendon Dunn (Sherman Oaks, CA/Notre Dame) was next for the offense with nine kills and sophomore outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek) was close behind with seven kills. Four Bearcats recorded a hitting percentage above .400. Sophomore middle blocker Wyatt Dimke (Ham Lake, MN/Blaine) recorded a .833%, a personal best this season, then freshman setter Ryan Serrano (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek) had a .667%, Schnittker and Dunn rounded it out, Schnittker with a .409% and Dun with a .438%.

Defensive efforts were spread across the board with freshman libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley High School) leading the way with eight total digs, Serrano and Ross were next each tallying seven total digs, and then Schnittker rounded out the efforts with six total digs. At the net for the Bearcats defense was junior middle blocker Lucas Galifos (Mokena,IL/Lincoln Way East) and Dunn. Galifos recorded one solo block and five block assists while Dunn tallied three total blocks.

The Bearcats will be back in action next weekend, March 21-23, with the BYU Invite where they will take on No. 2 University of Hawaii, No. 9 Brigham Young University, and Princeton University in Provo, UT.