HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. – McKendree's men's volleyball team extends to a three-game win streak with a four-set win at Northern Kentucky this evening. The final set scores were 25-15, 31-29, 23-25, 25-19.
The Bearcats shattered the program record for service aces in a four set match with 14 in tonight's match up with the Norse. The program high for a four set match was previously set at nine in 2015. With tonight's 14 ace performance, McKendree also breaks the program record for service aces in all matches, previously set at 12 in 2015.
Striking first in set one was the Bearcats with a kill from senior middle blocker
Rolen Lively to open the match. From there, McKendree never let the lead out of their grasp despite Northern Kentucky's best efforts. A three-point run from the Norse at 8-5 allowed Northern Kentucky to tie the score early in the set. Graduate outside hitter
Tyler Tripp would answer with a kill to reclaim the Bearcats' lead, but a Northern Kentucky kill would tie the score once more at 9-9. McKendree would respond with a run of three points to put an end to the back-and-forth play, highlighted by a service ace from Lively. The Bearcats would go on another three-point run at 14-11, highlighted by a service ace from redshirt senior outside hitter
Sam Hoskin and a kill from Tripp, to extend their lead. McKendree would attempt to end the set on a four-point run, with back-to-back service aces from Tripp broken up by a Norse attack error, but a Northern Kentucky kill would spoil the Bearcats' efforts, leaving the score at 24-15. A Norse service error would end the set, putting McKendree up 1-0 on the match.
Set two was a display of the Bearcats' perseverance and gritty team nature. The second set contained 23 ties and 10 lead changes. Neither team held a lead larger than two points throughout this back-and-forth, nail-biting set. Anytime McKendree seemed to be gaining momentum to create some separation from the Norse, Northern Kentucky had an answer. A three-point run by the Bearcats, made up of a kill, followed by a service ace from junior setter
Nate Flayter as well as a Norse attack error, at 21-22 brought McKendree to set-point, but back-to-back errors by McKendree would bring the score to a tie, extending the set to extra points. After point-after-point being traded back-and-forth between the two teams, senior opposite
Bryce Wetjen put an end to the madness with a kill, placing the Bearcats up 2-0 on the match.
In a must-win set for Northern Kentucky, the Norse came out fighting to extend the match. McKendree came out to an early four-point lead at 10-6, after a Bearcats' run of three points, highlighted by a kill from Wetjen. This prompted Northern Kentucky to call a timeout. Coming out of the timeout, the Norse put an end to McKendree's run with a kill, but a kill from redshirt sophomore
Will Klimek would place the Bearcats back up four points. Northern Kentucky would respond with a three-point run to close the gap to one point. McKendree did not make it easy for the Norse to take the lead away from them. Northern Kentucky was unable to tie the score until it reached 21-21. Even then, a kill from Wetjen would place the advantage back with the Bearcats. Back-to-back Norse kills would finally give Northern Kentucky the lead at 22-23. The Norse would end the set off an attack error from Wetjen, surviving momentarily.
The fourth set began in Northern Kentucky's favor, with the Norse leading until 11-11. McKendree then scored four straight points, including two Northern Kentucky errors and a Tripp kill, to go ahead by three. From there, McKendree dominated. Another four-point run—highlighted by a Wetjen ace and another Tripp kill—pushed the Bearcats to a six-point lead at 15-13. McKendree closed out the set and match with a block from Tripp and Klimek.
A dominant offensive performance from Wetjen helped lead the Bearcats to victory. Wetjen had 16 kills while hitting at a .367 percent. Tripp added to the impressive offensive performances with 12 kills and no errors, hitting at a .545 percent. Lively hit at a .400 on the match while recording eight kills, and redshirt junior outside hitter
Joseph Watkins came into the match and produced seven kills, only making one error, hitting at a .385 percent. Flayter joined the offensive fun, notching three kills while hitting at a .375 percent. Flayter also assisted McKendree to a team hitting efficiency of .367 percent on the match, while tallying 40 assists. Tripp and Flayter nabbed four service aces each, followed by Wetjen with three aces. Klimek, Lively, and Hoskin each added one ace to contribute to the offensive masterpiece displayed by the Bearcats in tonight's match.
Defensively, Flayter led the back court with seven digs. Flayter was followed by Wetjen with six digs, while graduate libero
Yadiel Diaz, Tripp, and Watkins each picked up four digs. At the net, Klimek (5 BA) and Flayter (1 BS, 3 BA) each notched 2.5 blocks. Lively and Wetjen followed with two blocks each (4 BA).
UP NEXT: The Bearcats will be back in action Saturday evening with a 4 PM CT match against the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus, Ohio.
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