LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball prepares to travel to Chicago to face off against the Ramblers on Thursday followed by a home match against the Mastodons of Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday.
The Bearcats received 12 votes in the latest American Coaches Volleyball Association Division I-II poll as they received the most votes of the teams outside the Top 15.
The Bearcats are coming off a 1-1 week after splitting their matches with No. 12 Lewis as the Flyers won on their home floor last Thursday while the Bearcats won at home on Saturday.
About McKendree
The Bearcats offense will be led by graduate student opposite hitter Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) as he has a team-high 238 kills on the season. Graduate student outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) is second on the team with 225 kills. Four Bearcats have 10 or more aces with Ross leading the way with 14, while freshman outside hitter Kevin Schuele has 13, Carroll has 12, and redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano has 11. Serrano also has 650 assists on the season.
Defensively, the Bearcats have three players with 100 or more digs and five players with 30 or more total blocks. Senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) as Comas has recorded a team-high 144 digs, while Serrano has 116 and Ross has 111. Redshirt junior middle blocker Jacob Gall (Fairview Heights, Ill./Althoff Catholic) has 47 total blocks (five solo, 42 block assists), Serrano has 42 total blocks (six solo, 36 block assists), Ross has 36 total blocks (two solo, 34 block assists), redshirt middle blocker Tommy McGrath (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) has 33 total blocks (two solo, 31 block assists) and Carroll has 32 total blocks (one solo, 31 block assists).
About Loyola
The Ramblers offense will be led by Parker Van Buren as he has 298 kills for the season while Henry Payne is second on the team with 128 kills. Garrett Zolg has recorded 26 serve aces and 614 assists, while Van Buren has 15 aces, and Payne and Andrew Lyons have 12 aces each.
Zolg leads the Ramblers with 122 digs, while Van Buren has 81, and Cole Schlothauer has 79 digs on the season. Lyons leads the team with his 44 total blocks (eight solo, 36 block assists), Jimmy Meinhart has 43 total blocks (seven solo, 36 block assists), Van Buren has 40 total blocks (one solo, 39 block assists) and Ben Montplaisir has 30 block assists.
About Purdue Fort Wayne
The Mastodons offense will be led by Jon Diedrich as he has 283 kills this season while Vicente Ibarra is second on the team with 141 kills. Zach Soloman leads Purdue Fort Wayne with 28 aces, while Bryce Walker has 26, Diedrich has 25 and Ibarra has 14.
Defensively, Purdue Fort Wayne is led by Trey Gooch as he has a team-high 158 digs while Diedrich has 109, and Sean Califf has 93 digs. Walker leads the team with 54 total blocks (three solo, 51 block assists), Califf has 40 (six solo, 34 block assists) along with Rico Wardlow having 40 total blocks (five solo, 35 block assists), Diedrich has 37 total blocks (one solo, 36 block assists) and Cody Johnson has 33 total blocks (eight solo, 25 block assists).
Up Next
After this weekend the Bearcats travel to Muncie, Ind. to play Ball State on Thursday, March 31 and then will travel to Columbus, Ohio to play Ohio State on Saturday, April 2.
