Box Score QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University men's volleyball team followed up a split last weekend with Queens University of Charlotte to open MIVA play with another home, conference contest, this time against the Bearcats of McKendree University. QU dropped a tight first set and couldn't mount a comeback, dropping the match in three (24-26, 17-25, 17-25).

Set One

Keegan Carey recorded the first kill of the match on a feed from Logan Brouwer before a back-and-forth battle between the sides found the score knotted at 9-9. From there, a three-point Quincy run on an error, a kill from Zackary Zdrojeski and an ace from Logan Gieseke made it 12-9 in favor of the home team. 

Shortly after at 14-11, a five-point Bearcat run put McKendree back in front 16-14. Moments later at 17-16 MCK, the Hawks took four of the next five points to pull ahead 20-18. McKendree responded by taking five of the next six to make it 23-21. QU buckled down, capturing three of the next four to deadlock the tally at 24-24 on two kills from Carey and a block from Roman Deryckere. The Bearcats ruined the fun in the end, grabbing the last two points to take the set 26-24. 

Set Two

Trailing 1-0, Quincy used a three-point rally on a kill from Gieseke, an ace from Raje Alleyne and an error to lead it 3-1. The squads traded runs for the next short while, going from a three-point McKendree run to a two-point QU run followed by another MCK run of four to find the score at 8-5 in favor of the visitors. 

The Bearcats continued to press the issue as the set drew on, maintaining their advantage. Although the Hawks remained well within striking distance until the later stages of the frame, eventually at 19-15, MCK took five of six points to open a 24-16 advantage and would go on to take the set two points later 25-17. 

Set Three

Quincy opened the set with a 4-3 advantage on an error, two kills from Alleyne and a block from Deryckere. McKendree responded with two four-point runs, sandwiching two Hawk points, to put QU behind the eight ball in the early going down 11-6. 

The Hawks struggled to get anything cooking during the middle stage of the set, lending to an 18-10 advantage for the Bearcats that would prove to be too much to overcome. Quincy split the final 14 points of the match an even 7-7 with McKendree to give MCK the 25-17 win in the set and victory in the match. 

Next Up

Next on the docket for Coach Kemner and Co. is a trip to Columbus, OH to pay a visit to the Buckeyes of Ohio State University for a two-game set of MIVA conference action next weekend (Feb. 16-17). First serve on Friday night is slated for 7:00 PM EST from the Covelli Center.