ST. LOUIS – [BOX SCORE] The Missouri Baptist men's volleyball team fell to the Mckendree Bearcats on Tuesday night 3-1 (22-25, 25-23, 24-26, 23-25) after a tough battle at the Harry M. Statham Arena.

The Spartans started off with an early lead in the first set and held it until the Bearcats took a late lead. McKendree peaked at just the right moment and took the set 25-22.

MBU again advanced to an early lead in set two. After a kill from Chris Flood, McKendree called a timeout at 16-10. The timeout provided a necessary break for the home team and McKendree responded with short run. The Spartans, however, held strong to maintain the lead. Flood provided the final nail in the coffin with a big kill, which closed out set two for the 25-23 Spartan win.

A back-and-forth battle ensued to begin the third set. With the score knotted at four, MBU began to pull away and went on a four point run before the Bearcats called a timeout. Missouri Baptist held the lead until McKendree clawed its way back into the game for a 26-24 set three win.

The Spartans led the Bearcats early in the fourth set as well. With several lead changes throughout the course of the game, McKendree tied the final set at 21-all and proceeded to grab the 25-23 victory and a 3-1 match win.

Mico Janicijevic lead the Spartans with 20 kills. Kevin Knight ended the night with a .600 hitting percentage on three out of five kills.

Missouri Baptist will continue its travel schedule this weekend as they will attend the Molten Invitational at Grand View University. Friday the Spartans will face Warner University and Clarke University and on Saturday, St. Ambrose University and Graceland University.