LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball prepares for No. 14 Loyola-Chicago and Purdue Fort Wayne this weekend.
The Bearcats who have received votes in the last three polls, including five this week, will host the Ramblers on Thursday, Feb. 24 at 7 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center before traveling to Fort Wayne, Ind. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at 5 p.m. central time at Gates Sports Center.
The Bearcats enter the week 6-4 and 3-1 in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association while Loyola Chicago enters the week 8-5 and 4-0 in MIVA play while Purdue Fort Wayne enters the week 8-6 and 2-2 in MIVA play.
About McKendree
Graduate student outside hitters Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) will lead the offense as Carroll has 112 kills and Ross has 106 kills. Redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek), fresh off his third career MIVA Player of the Week honor (2nd Defensive honor), will be a key part of the offense as he has assisted on 317 of McKendree's 373 kills. The Bearcats average 11.94 kills per set on a .265 hitting percentage.
Senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) is one of five Bearcats with 50 or more digs on the season. Comas has 70, while Serrano has 56, Ross has 55, freshman outside hitter Kevin Schuele (Aurora, Ill./Saint Francis) has 51 and Carroll has 50. The Bearcats average 1.97 blocks per set.
About Loyola
Offensively the Ramblers are led by Parker Van Buren has recorded 197 kills while Colton Brooks has 102. Garrett Zolg has 407 assists on 529 Rambler kills. The Ramblers average 11.96 kills per set on .284 hitting percentage.
Defensively the Ramblers are led by Zolg with 72 digs, Brooks has 61 digs, Van Buren has 56 digs and Matt Oakley has 50. The Ramblers also average 2.01 blocks per set.
About Purdue FW
Jon Diedrich leads the Mastodons with 209 kills while Bryce Walker has 121 kills on the season. Sean Califf has 390 assists on 643 kills for the Mastodons as they have 602 assists on the season while averaging 12.13 kills per set on a .269 hitting percentage.
The Mastodons have three players with 50 or more digs on the season as Trey Gooch has recorded 110 digs, Diedrich has 85 digs and Califf has 58 digs on the season. The Mastodons average 1.87 blocks per set.
Up Next
The Bearcats will return to action on Friday and Saturday, March 4-5 as they host the Pepperdine Waves at the MPCC with both games being at 7 p.m.
