NASHVILLE, Tenn. – The Lincoln Memorial University men's volleyball team (0-1) fell in straight sets (13-25, 14-25, 17-25) to McKendree (2-4) to open its season on Saturday night in the Grow the Game Challenge at Lipscomb University's Allen Arena.
 
The Bearcat attack racked up 42 kills on an efficient .410 hitting percentage and only committed 10 errors. LMU only produced 23 kills and hit .095 while committing 16 errors. McKendree also held a 7-1 edge in aces.
 
Evan Cory and Pedro Carvalho combined for 17 of LMU's 23 kills. Cory led the team with 10 kills and a .280 hitting percentage, while Carvalho finished with seven kills and a respectable .267 hitting percentage. All other Railsplitters combined for just six kills and 10 errors. AJ Risavy recorded a game-high 18 digs, while Logan Kerley led all players with eight digs in their LMU debuts.
 
Patrick Ross and Jared Wilcox led the McKendree attack with 10 kills apiece. Brendan Schmidt added nine more kills and led all players with a .800 hitting percentage, three service aces and four blocks. Pasquale Fiduccia notched 33 assists. Jorge Collazo recorded one assist and three digs against his former squad.
 
The teams opened set one with five points apiece before Wilcox subbed in for the Bearcats. He immediately recorded back-to-back kills and totaled five for the set as McKendree outscored LMU 20-8 the rest of the way. Cory also totaled five kills in the set, though the Railsplitters hit just .077 as a team compared to McKendree's .370.
 
Set two opened very similarly, as the teams were tied 6-6 when Wilcox checked back in. The Bearcats proceeded to outscore the Railsplitters 19-8 over the remainder of the set. Ross racked up five of his 10 kills. McKendree hit a scorching .583 with 15 kills compared to just one error.
 
The Bearcats led the entire third set despite set lows in kills (12) and hitting percentage (.296). Unfortunately, the Railsplitters did as well with six kills and a .043 hitting percentage. The teams traded 16 straight points after McKendree opened the set by taking the first two. Following a timeout, the Bearcats took the next three points and eight of the next 10. McKendree continued its run and led by as many as 10 points.
 
The Railsplitters wrap up the Grow the Game Classic Sunday against No. 5 Hawaii at 3:30 p.m. in a match that was originally scheduled for Friday evening.