ROMEOVILLE, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball fell in four sets to No. 12 Lewis University on Thursday night in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association (MIVA) action at Neil Carey Arena.

The Bearcats won the first set 26-24, before falling 45-43 in set two, 25-16 in set three and 25-15 in set four. The second set was tied for the second highest scoring set in NCAA history and the highest in McKendree history. The NCAA men's volleyball record for points in a set was 46-44 between Ohio State and Penn State back in March of 2002. 

With the loss, the Bearcats fall to 9-8 and 4-3 in MIVA play, while Lewis improved to 11-8 and 3-4 in MIVA play. The Bearcats are now tied for second in the MIVA standings with Purdue Fort Wayne, who is also 4-3 in league play. 

The Bearcats recorded a season-high 68 kills as a team as graduate student outside hitter Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) recorded a career-high 24 kills while freshman outside hitter Kevin Schuele (Aurora, Ill./Saint Francis) recorded a career-high 17 kills and graduate student outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) added 15 kills for the Bearcats. The last time the Bearcats had three players with 10 or more kills in a match was at Purdue Fort Wayne on Feb. 26. Carroll has now had 20 or more kills in two of his last four matches as he tallied a then career-high 23 kills against Pepperdine. 

Redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) recorded a season-high 54 assists as the Bearcats recorded 65 assists on 68 kills in the match that featured 46 ties and 23 lead changes. Serrano was two assists shy of tying his career-high of 56 assists, which was against Purdue Fort Wayne on April 10, 2021.

Defensively, the Bearcats recorded a season-high 51 digs in the match as senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) recorded a season-high 18 digs. Ross added 10 digs in the match, while Schuele had nine and Carroll had eight.

Ross recorded his fourth double-double of the season and the eighth of his career. 

Carroll and Ross both have 200 or more kills with Carroll having 217 on the season and Ross having 208 on the season. The last time the Bearcats had two players record 200 or kills was 2017 when Maalik Walker had 292 and Nolan Reuter had 267. 

Lewis was led by Tyler Mitchem as he recorded 16 kills while John Davis had 15 and Max Roquet had 14. Kevin Kauling and Roquet recorded 12 digs a piece for the Flyers.

The Bearcats and Flyers will meet again on Saturday, March 19 with first serve set for 5 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center on the campus of McKendree University.