(LEBANON, Ill., March 23) – The McKendree University men's volleyball team finished out the BYU Invite with a 3-0 sweep over Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (EIVA) member Princeton. The Bearcats are now 11-9 overall on the season after going 2-1 on the weekend.

McKendree opened up set one with a four point deficit to the Tigers but were able to regroup and slowly make a comeback to tie things up at 10 points apiece. From there it was a lot of back and forth play until the Bearcats went on a five-point run to force a Princeton timeout and take a 19-16 lead. McKendree remained strong defensively to capture the 25-20 victory.

The Bearcats pulled away early in the second set going up 6-2 to start things off which forced Princeton to call a timeout. The pause in the set didn't affect McKendree's play as they remained competitive and spread the lead to 13-5 forcing another Tiger timeout. This time, the timeout played a factor into the set as Princeton went on a six-point run to pull within two points of the Bearcats. 13-11. McKendree called a timeout and was able to come back out and finish the set out strong to earn a 25-18 victory in set two.

With momentum on their side, the Bearcats began and ended set three strong never falling behind Princeton. McKendree finished off the Tigers with a freshman middle blocker Tommy McGrath (Paradise Valley, AZ/Brophy College Prep) kill to win the third set 25-17 and the match 3-0.

Freshman outside hitter Brendon Dunn (Sherman Oaks, CA/Notre Dame) put up a well-rounded performance to help propel the Bearcats to the 3-0 sweep. Dunn collected nine kills to lead the offense, seven digs to help support the back line, and tallied one service ace for McKendree. Junior opposite Zach Schnittker (Arlington Heights, IL/Buffalo Grove) also played a pivotal role in the Bearcat victory recording three service aces, six kills, four digs, and two block assists.

As a team, McKendree outnumbered the Tigers in every category. The Bearcats recorded 34 kills to Princeton's 26, tallied eight service aces while the Tigers only managed one, and McKendree also collected 11 more digs than Princeton with 36 total in the three set match compared to the Tigers 25.

The Bearcats will return to Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association action next weekend, March 28-29, with matches at No. 10 Loyola University Chicago on Thursday and No. 7 Lewis University on Friday.