LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball prepares to host Purdue Fort Wayne on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center in the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association Quarterfinals.
The 15th ranked Bearcats split the regular season series with Purdue Fort Wayne as they fell at Purdue Fort Wayne in five sets on Feb. 26 before picking up a four-set win on March 26 at the MPCC.
The Bearcats finished the regular season 14-10 and 9-5 in MIVA play to earn the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Tournament. Those 14 wins are a school record for wins in a season and it was the 100th win for head coach Nickie Sanlin. Purdue Fort Wayne enters as the No. 6 seed in the MIVA Tournament after finishing the regular season 15-12 and 6-8 in MIVA play.
About McKendree:
The Bearcats had four members named to the All-MIVA teams as graduate student outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) was named All-MIVA First Team while graduate student opposite side hitter Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington), redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek), and senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) were all selected to the All-MIVA Second Team.
Ross and Carroll will lead the Bearcats offense as they both have recorded 307 kills on the season and became the second and third Bearcats to record 300 or more kills in a season while also being the first teammates to reach that milestone in the same season.
Defensively, Comas will lead the Bearcats with his team-high 181 digs while Serrano is second with 159 digs. Redshirt junior middle blocker Daniel Duggan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) is second on the team with 50 total blocks (four solo, 46 block assists). Serrano leads the Bearcats with 55 total blocks (eight solo, 47 block assists).
About Purdue Fort Wayne:
Jon Diedrich will lead the Mastodons offense with 390 kills as Bryce Walker is second on the team with 183 kills. Diedrich is averaging 3.94 kills per set while Walker is averaging 2.15 kills per set.
Defensively, the Mastodons are led by Troy Gooch as Gooch has recorded 220 digs this season and averages 2.29 digs per set. Diedrich is second on the Mastodons with 145 digs and averages 1.46 digs per set. Walker leads Purdue Fort Wayne with 77 total blocks (seven solo, 70 block assists) while Rico Wardlow is second with 49 total blocks (six solo, 43 block assists).
Up Next:
If the Bearcats win, they will advance to their fourth semifinal appearance on Wednesday, April 20 against the winner of the two-seven matchup between Loyola Chicago and Lindenwood.
