Purdue Fort Wayne Men's Volleyball Will Play Two MIVA Matches This Week

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Purdue Fort Wayne men's volleyball team will play at McKendree and host Lewis this week in MIVA action.

Game Day Information (Wednesday)
Who: McKendree Bearcats
When: Wednesday, February 22 | 8 PM
Where: Lebanon, Ill. | Melvin Price Convocation Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: GLVCSN
Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne | McKendree | MIVA

Game Day Information (Friday)
Who: Lewis Flyers
When: Friday, February 24 | 7 PM
Where: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Gates Sports Center
Live Stats: Link
Watch: ESPN+
Game Notes: Purdue Fort Wayne | Lewis | MIVA

Know Your Foes
• McKendree is 6-5 this season and 1-3 after two weekends of MIVA play. The Bearcats' one MIVA win came last week against Quincy. They have played the same foes as the Mastodons in league play and have had the same results. Bryce Wetjen is leading the Bearcats with 3.03 kills per set. Setter Tyle Poulsen was named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week on January 31.
• Lewis is 8-7 and has started MIVA play 2-2 with a 3-2 win over Ball State and a 3-0 win over Quincy. The Flyers fell to George Mason 3-0, a team the Mastodons beat in five sets. Lewis is coming off a 3-2 loss to Lindenwood. Max Roquet is leading Lewis with 3.52 kills per set. He was also named the MIVA Defensive Player of the Week on Janaury 17.

Series Histories
• Purdue Fort Wayne and McKendree have one of the most tightly-contested series in all of men's volleyball. The Mastodons lead the series 9-8, and the two teams have alternated the last four matches.
• Lewis owns the series lead 42-25, which dates back to 1994, the first year the Flyers played in the MIVA. The Mastodons have won just one of the last 17 matches, which came in 3-0 fashion last season. Jon Diedrich had 12 kills in that contest.

Block Party
Purdue Fort Wayne is third in the MIVA and eighth in the country with 2.36 blocks per set. Ryan Steponaitis (1.00), Bryce Walker (0.90), Mark Frazier (0.82) and Jon Diedrich (0.63) are all in the top-20 in the MIVA in blocks per set.

Bryce the Beast
Bryce Walker has the best career hitting percentage among active MIVA players with a .353 clip.

Zany Zach
Zach Solomon is the MIVA career leader with 0.39 aces per set

Yes, No (ah), Maybe
Noah Melendez is the active career leader in Division I/II with 717 digs in his five years. The next closest is McKendree's Francisco Comas with 653.

Serrrrrrg
Sergio Carrillo has the second-most career assists among all Division I/II student-athletes with 2,833 in his five seasons. Cole Bogner of Penn State is the active leader with 3,426.

He's Special
Jon Diedrich is fourth in the country with 5.06 points per set. He is only behind a pair of players from the SIAC and Jaylen Jasper of Pepperdine.

Chasing 1,000
Jon Diedrich is on pace to join the 1,000-kill club while at Purdue Fort Wayne. He has 931 kills and has averaged 3.50 kills per set in his career. If he continues this pace, he will hit the 1,000 mark in 19 sets.

Jaunty Jon
Jon Diedrich matched his career-high with 28 kills against No. 11 Ball State on February 18. This was the second-most kills in a five-set match in the NCAA this season. It also came after he recorded 20 kills in four sets against No. 10 Ohio State.

Last Time Out
Purdue Fort Wayne fell to No. 10 Ohio State 3-1 and No. 11 Ball State 3-2. Jon Diedrich had a career-high 28 kills against the Cardinals.

Coming Up
The Mastodons will take on Loyola Chicago on Saturday (March 4) in the Windy City.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

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Players Mentioned

Sergio Carrillo

Jon Diedrich

Mark Frazier

Noah Melendez

Zach Solomon

Ryan Steponaitis

Bryce Walker