LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball enters the last weekend of the regular season with two matches against Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association opponents Lindenwood and Quincy. The Bearcats host the Lions on Thursday, April 7 at 7 p.m. and the Hawks on Saturday, April 9 at 5 p.m. at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
The Bearcats beat Quincy in three sets at Quincy on Feb. 16 and beat the Lions on Feb. 19 in three sets at Lindenwood.
The 15th ranked Bearcats enter the week 12-10 and 7-5 in MIVA play this season while Lindenwood enters 8-11 and 4-8 in conference play while Quincy enters the week 4-16 and 0-12 in conference play.
About McKendree
Offensively, the Bearcats are led by graduate student opposite side hitter Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) with a team-high 290 kills. Graduate student outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek) is second with 286 kills and is coming off a record-breaking performance last Saturday at Ohio State in which he broke the school record for career kills and has 939 in his career. The Bearcats have four players with 14 or more serve aces with Ross and Carroll have 17 each. Freshman outside hitter Kevin Schuele (Aurora, Ill./Saint Francis) has 16 and redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) has 14.
Defensively, the Bearcats have five players with 100 or more digs including a team-high 173 digs from senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley. Serrano has recorded 148 digs while Ross has 142 digs. Schuele has recorded 122 digs and Carroll has 107 digs.
About Lindenwood
The Lions offense will be led by Diego Negron as he has a team-high 227 kills while A.J. Lewis has 158 kills. Negron leads the team with 32 aces while Lewis has 14 and Connor Sheehan has 12 aces.
Defensively, the Lions are led by Kyle Deutschmann as he has 140 digs on the season and Negron has 100 digs for the season. The Lions average 7.25 digs per set in their 19 matches this season.
About Quincy
Nathan Lawton will lead the Hawks offense with 219 kills while Miguel Hernandez is second on the team with 109 kills. Francisco Salinger leads the Hawks will 11 aces this season.
Defensively, Michal Podgorzak leads the Hawks with 71 digs. Lawton is second on the team with 70 digs. Salinger and Dominik Waigel are tied for third with 65 digs each.
Up Next
After this weekend the Bearcats will prepare for the MIVA Quarterfinals next Saturday, April 16.
