(LEBANON, Ill., Jan. 16) – The McKendree University men's volleyball team is set to open its 2020 home schedule with a pair of matches, one against New Jersey Institute of Technology on Friday, Jan. 17 and the other against Saint Francis on Saturday, Jan. 18. First serve for both games is 7 p.m.

The Bearcats are coming off of a 1-2 performance from the Asics Invitational in California last weekend. McKendree opened the tournament and its 2020 season with a 3-2 win over, at the time, No. 13 CSUN. The Bearcats then fell to No. 4/5 Long Beach State and No. 5/4 UCSB.

Based on their strong performances at the Invitational, junior outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek) and sophomore setter Ryan Serrano (Anthem, AZ/Boulder Creek) were named to the All-Tournament team. Sophomore libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, IL/Neuqua Valley High School) was later named National Libero of the Week by Off the Block Publication with his strong season opening appearance.

Senior opposite Zach Schnittker (Arlington Heights, IL/Buffalo Grove) and Ross lead the team in kills, Schnittker with 29 and Ross with 25 total kills on the season. Junior middle blocker Wyatt Dimke (Ham Lake, MN/Blaine) holds the highest hitting percentage on the team with 21 kills and five errors on 43 attempts for a .372 hitting percentage. Serrano is averaging 30 assists a match to help set up the Bearcats offense.

Defensive leaders for McKendree are Comas, Serrano, and Ross. Comas leads the team with 32 digs on the season, followed by Serrano and Ross who each have 20 total digs. Senior middle blocker Lucas Galifos (Mokena,IL/Lincoln Way East) is the team's block leader at the net with eight blocks in the three matches this season.

McKendree will compete next in the Lindenwood Invitational Jan. 24-26. The Bearcats will face Grand Canyon, the University of California, San Diego, and Lees-McRae in the three day tournament.