LEBANON, Ill. - McKendree University men's volleyball picked up a closely contested three set win against Lindenwood on Thursday night at the Melvin Price Convocation Center.
The Bearcats swept Lindenwood for the second time this season following set wins of 25-19, 25-23, and 27-25. With the win the Bearcats improved to 13-10 and 8-5 in Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association while Lindenwood fell to 8-12 and 4-9 in MIVA play. With this win, the Bearcats also clinched the No. 3 seed in the MIVA Conference Tournament and will host the quarterfinal match on Saturday, April 16.
In the third set, the No. 15 Bearcats hit .423 with 15 kills as graduate student outside hitter Patrick Ross (Anthem, Ariz./Boulder Creek), graduate student opposite side hitter Ethan Carroll (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) and freshman outside hitter Kevin Schuele (Aurora, Ill./Saint Francis) recorded four kills each in the third set.
The Bearcats recorded a season-high .471 hitting percentage as their previous high was .468 on Jan. 28 at King. McKendree also had five players record five or more kills as Ross led the way with 12, while Schuele had eight and Carroll had seven. Redshirt junior middle blocker Daniel Duggan (Wheaton, Ill./Wheaton North) and redshirt senior middle blocker Tommy McGrath (Paradise Valley, Ariz./Brophy College Prep) each recorded five kills.
Defensively, redshirt senior setter Ryan Serrano (Phoenix, Ariz./Boulder Creek) led the way with six digs while Ross and senior libero Francisco Comas (Naperville, Ill./Neuqua Valley) recorded four digs each. The Bearcats also recorded 7.0 total team blocks as Duggan led the way with one solo block and three block assists.
Lindenwood was led by AJ Lewis as he had a game-high 20 kills including 10 kills in the third set. Phil Swartz had three serve aces while Connor Sheehan had six digs.
Notes:
Ross needs two kills to reach 300 kills for the season while Carroll needs three kills to reach 300 kills for the season. Ross and Carroll will be the first Bearcats duo to record 300 kills in the same season and they will be the second and third players in program history to record 300 kills in a season as Jared Wilcox had 320 kills in 2015.
Up Next:
The Bearcats return to action on Saturday, April 9 at 5 p.m. against Quincy University at the MPCC as it will also be Senior Day.
