QUINCY, Ill. - The Quincy University men's volleyball team put up a strong fight against No. 10 McKendree on Saturday evening at Pepsi Arena, but the Bearcats proved too much to handle in a 3-1 (17-25, 26-24, 19-25, 26-28) loss for the Hawks.

Aleksandar Sosa led the charge for Quincy with an impressive 26-kill performance, hitting .451 on 51 attempts for his third 25+ kill match of the season.

Tomas Badan had an even contribution with seven kills and match-highs of five service aces and five blocks. Setter Armaan Dosanjh recorded 46 assists, and the Hawks totaled 11 blocks as a team. 

Set One

MCK opened the match with a 6-2 advantage, beating back an early Hawks comeback effort shortly after with a four-point run to press ahead 12-6. A Sosa kill and back-to-back Badan aces pulled Quincy within two at 17-15, where the deficit remained until a six-point Bearcats swing at the 19-17 mark drew a close to the first set. 

Set Two

Kills from Sosa and AJ Goedheer put the Hawks ahead 2-1 before a six-point MCK run propelled the Bearcats out front. QU played the catch up game successfully through the middle of the set, using kills from Zackary Zdrojeski and Sosa along with an error to trim the margin to just one at 16-15, before tying it up at 19-19 shortly after on another Sosa termination. 

A trading of the next seven points brought the tally to 23-22 in favor of McKendree, until consecutive Bearcats errors in the next two points gave Quincy the opening it needed. Following a MCK point to knot the score at 24-24, another error and a Badan ace sealed a hard-fought 26-24 win. 

Set Three

Four of the first five points went in favor of McKendree as the Hawks were able to narrow the deficit to one soon after at 8-7. Later in the set, a four-point Bearcats swing opened up a 13-8 advantage for the visitors. MCK closed the door from there, never allowing QU any closer than four points the rest of the way to claim the set. 

Set Four

The fourth set was a back-and-forth battle, with the sides trading early points to an 11-11 tie. The Bearcats built a slight 15-12 edge, but the Hawks responded with a surge, fueled by Sosa kills and key defensive stops, evening the score at 18-18. McKendree pulled ahead again at 23-21, only for Quincy to rally once more, forcing extra points in a thrilling finish.

QU fought off multiple set points, pushing McKendree to the limit, but the Bearcats capitalized in the final moments to secure a 28-26 win and seal the 3-1 match victory.

Next Up 

The Hawks are on the road to Indiana next weekend for a pair of MIVA matches, traveling to Muncie to face off with the No. 13 Cardinals of Ball State on Friday (Mar. 28) at 7:00 PM EST, before making the trip to Fort Wayne to take on Purdue Fort Wayne at 7:00 PM EST on Saturday (Mar. 29).