LEBANON, Ill. – McKendree's men's volleyball team hands the Harvard University Crimson a 3-0 loss in the first match of the series. The final set scores were 25-13, 25-22, 25-21.
The Bearcats dominated in the first set. The Crimson managed to keep the score close, never trailing more than four points. With the score at 14-11, McKendree took a commanding 12-point lead after going on a run of nine points with senior opposite
Bryce Wetjen behind the service line to put them two points away from taking set one. This Bearcat run was highlighted by kills from senior middle blocker
Rolen Lively, graduate outside hitter
Tyler Tripp, and junior setter
Nate Flayter, as well as a service ace from Wetjen. McKendree would reach set point off a kill from Tripp, and a kill from Lively would end the set, placing the Bearcats up 1-0 on the match.
Harvard put up a fight coming into set two. The second set consisted of 10 ties and three lead changes. The Crimson grabbed the lead early at 8-9, where they did not let up until McKendree would go on a four-point run, composed of a kill from redshirt senior outside hitter
Sam Hoskin, Tripp, and back-to-back kills from Wetjen, to give the Bearcats a one-point lead and put control of the set back into their hands. From there, McKendree would manage to string together points back-to-back to grow their lead. Harvard would not let the Bearcats' lead be greater than three points, but McKendree persevered, ending the set with a kill from Hoskin to earn set point, followed by a kill from Hoskin to take a 2-0 advantage on the match.
In a must-win set for the Crimson, Harvard put up another fighting effort. The third set consisted of nine ties and three lead changes. Despite the Crimson's best efforts, the Bearcats proved their dominance by pulling away at the middle point in the third set with a run of three points, highlighted by kills from Flayter and redshirt sophomore middle blocker Will Kilmek, to place McKendree up 14-11. Harvard would bring the score to the last tie of the set at 15-15, but another Bearcats' run of four points, composed of a block from Lively and Flayter, kills from Hoskin and Wetjen, and another block from Hoskin, Flayter, and Lively, would give McKendree a five-point lead late in the set. This lead was too much for the Crimson to overcome. The Bearcats would end the set and match with a kill from Hoskin.
Flayter dished out a total of 31 assists, setting up McKendree's offense to a .348 hitting percentage. With Flayter's fifth assist in tonight's match, he reached 2,000 career assists. Hoskin had a match-high of 12 kills with a .478 hitting percentage, followed by Lively with nine kills. Lively had an errorless match, hitting at a .600 percent. Wetjen and Tripp each added seven kills apiece.
Defensively, Tripp led with 10 digs, followed by graduate libero
Yadiel Diaz, Hoskin, and Wetjen with seven digs apiece. Lively made his presence at the net known, tallying 4.5 total blocks (2 BS, 5 BA). As a team, the Bearcats notched 12.5 total blocks on the match.
UP NEXT: McKendree will be back at home for another match against Harvard at 5:00 PM, and it's Jersey Night at the MPCC.
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