The Lindenwood men's volleyball team fell to McKendree in three sets on Saturday night in Hyland Arena.

OVERVIEW
After a quick turnaround from last night's five-set win over the No. 9 Lewis Flyers, the Lions had an uphill battle facing the well-rested Bearcats.

McKendree won the first set 25-20, hitting .308 as a team and having a 1.000 reception percentage in their 13 total attempts. The Bearcats defense was just slightly sharper, recording 15 total digs while the Lions had 13, along with two crucial block assists compared to Lindenwood's zero. 

Lindenwood took McKendree to overtime in the second, putting up a strong fight in their 25-27 loss. A.J. Lewis and Alex Pappas each tallied three kills, while Connor Sheehan contributed 10 assists. The Lions' reception percentage increased to a perfect 1.000 as a collective, and Carter Stenmark, Diego Negron and Eric Winn all knocked down a service ace each, bringing the Lions' second set total to three compared to the Bearcat's zero. 

McKendree took the third set with a 25-20 win despite the Lions' 17 kills (7 from Lewis), 16 assists (all from Sheehan) and a solo ace from Kadin Warner. Defensively, the Bearcats were just a bit cleaner again, tallying 9 digs and 5 block assists as a team. McKendree ended their night with 35 total digs and seven total blocks. 

Both Lewis and Sheehan topped the leaderboard in their respective categories for a second game in a row, with Lewis recording 14 total kills and Sheehan tallying 35 total assists. Negron lead the way for Lindenwood with nine total kills, while Kyle Deutschmann had the Lions' most receptions (28 total, 1.000 total percentage). 

UP NEXT
The Lions will travel to No. 1 MIVA opponent Ball State on Thursday for a 6:00 p.m. CST match in Muncie, Indiana.