The Lindenwood men's volleyball team (9-11, 4-7 MIVA) knocked off No. 18 McKendree (13-8, 7-5 MIVA) 3-0 on Wednesday night in Hyland Arena.

MATCH OVERVIEW
The two teams went back-and forth to begin the first set, then a block by Owen Walsh and an ace from Clay Wieter put the Lions ahead 10-8. Lindenwood held a slim advantage throughout the first set, but McKendree rattled off three-straight points to tie things up at 18-18. Lindenwood responded with three-consecutive points of its own and Wieter finished off the set with a kill at 25-21 to put the black and gold up a set early.

Lindenwood took an early 10-6 lead in the second set and continued to lead throughout the second stanza. With the Lions up 23-19, the Bearcats strung together five-straight points to grab a 24-23 lead. The set would need extra points as the seesaw battle continued The Lions outlasted McKendree in the frame as Ian Schuller finished the set off with a kill. Lindenwood went up 2-0 after picking up the second 32-30.

The Lions used their best hitting set of the match in the third to finish off the sweep, swinging at a .440 clip. Lindenwood jumped out to an 8-3 lead, which forced a McKendree timeout. The home squad kept in front for most of the set. However, leading 22-17, the Bearcats picked up four-straight points to pull within one at 22-21. Lindenwood was able to hang on with Schuller finishing it off once again at 25-23.

GAME LEADERS
Ian Schuller (nine kills, 13 digs)
Connor Sheehan (38 assists, five digs)
A.J. Lewis (13 kills)

QUOTABLE 
"The team did a nice job of responding tonight after a tough weekend of matches in Indiana", said head coach Joe Kosciw. "Blocking and defense were much improved and the guys worked hard out on the court after some quality touches were made. It was good to see that we were able to compete well against another top 20 team in the country.  Now it's time to prepare for another tough road match on Saturday at Quincy."

UP NEXT
The Lions head to Quincy, Ill. for a matchup with Quincy on Saturday beginning at 2:00 p.m.