LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree's men's volleyball falls to Missouri S&T in four sets with the scores of 25-16, 22-25, 18-25, 21-25 on Friday evening.
The Bearcats came out hot in the first set, opening with a four-point run shortly followed by another run of three points, putting McKendree ahead 8-2. The Miners would hold off the Bearcats, bringing the score within two points, but McKendree would respond with a three-point run to put them back up five. At 19-14, a Miners' service error would kick-start another Bearcat run of three points. McKendree would put set one away with back-to-back kills from junior setter
Nate Flayter and redshirt senior outside hitter
Sam Hoskin.
Set two opened with the Bearcats and the Miners trading points back and forth until McKendree went on a run of four points, taking the lead at 12-9, followed by another run of three points, leaving the score at 15-11. Missouri S&T would respond with a four-point run to tie the score at 15, shortly followed by a run of three points to re-tie the score at 19 all. The Miners would end the set on a three-point run to even the match at one set apiece.
In the third set, the Bearcats pulled ahead early with a three-point run to take a lead of four at 10-6. Missouri S&T would follow with a six-point run, followed by a three-point run to take the lead at 13-17. From there, it was all Miners. Missouri S&T would end the set on a three-point run.
The fourth set was a gritty battle that featured 14 ties, with McKendree not giving up the lead until late in the set at 18 all. This was a result of the Miners' three-point run, which was the first run of the set by either team. Missouri S&T would follow this by going on another three-point run, putting them ahead of the Bearcats by three points. A kill from senior middle blocker
Rolen Lively would hold off match point, but the Miners would respond with a kill of their own to take the set and match.
Senior opposite
Bryce Wetjen led offensively with 17 kills, followed by Hoskin with 14 kills and graduate outside hitter
Tyler Tripp with 13 kills. Flayter tabbed 50 assists.
Defensively, Flayter led the back court with 12 digs. Wetjen and graduate libero
Yadiel Diaz followed with nine and eight digs, respectively. At the net, Wetjen collected four blocks, followed by redshirt sophomore middle blocker
Will Klimek.
Diaz was honored at the start of the match for surpassing 500 career digs. Diaz reached this accomplishment during last weekend's series sweep over Penn State with his fifth dig of Saturday's match.
UP NEXT: The Bearcats finish the weekend with a Saturday evening match up against Rockhurst University. First serve is set for 7:30 PM.
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