LEBANON, ILL. — Queens University of Charlotte fought out an early first-set 28-26 win over McKendree, but eventually fell in four sets (28-26, 22-25, 19-25, 31-33) to the Bobcats in Thursday night MIVA action on Feb. 15.
The first set featured an early kill by freshman Chance Shampine to get things started for the Royals. Ruben Emmerich put down a block to get ahead by a 2-0 score, but the Bobcats would soon creep their way back into the lead with a service ace and a few Queens miscues. Queens would take advantage of multiple Bobcat errors and use the strengths of Shaphar Grant on the block to pace the squad in a back-and-forth affair to take the set into extra points — and a late jolt from Brinkman and Emmerich would finalize the 28-26 victory.
In the second set, the Bobcats would just barely edge out the Royals in a 25-22 victory thanks to a 15-kill frame. Despite the loss, Queens would piece together a 14-kill frame of their own but would suffer five errors in 31 attempts.
In the third, McKendree found a groove and held Queens to only eight kills — while the Bobcat squad was able to put up 13. A mid-set run sparked by Tyler Poulsen would catapult the Bobcats up by six, 22-16, and would hold out until the final 25-19 score.
In the fourth, Queens wouldn't go down without a fight as both sides of the net battled point-by-point. In their longest drawn-out set of the season, kills on both sides would give the Bobcats and the Royals multiple shots at a match point — but neither side refused to let up. It would take a solid McKendree block and a final kill from Nikos Xydakis to finalize the lengthy 33-31 triumph.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
- Jack Brinkman (17), Chance Shampine (13), and Ruben Emmerich (10) all added double-digit kills for the Royals. This marks Brinkman's fifth match in a row scoring double-digit kills.
- Shampine's 13 kills secured a new career-high for the freshman.
- Leading the block and the assist category was Daniel Leitao, who snagged three blocks and added 42 assists.
- Chris Peters dug out a career-high 14 digs to lead the squad.
REMARKS FROM HEAD COACH JEREMY PRICE
"Tonight was a really well-fought, tough match that went extra points in two sets and unfortunately we just didn't get the job done," Head Coach Jeremy Price. "Chance [Shampine] was really efficient tonight, I really like what he did tonight with 13 kills. Jack [Brinkman] just gave us a lot of offense with 17 kills and served immensely well. Additionally, I was really proud of Chris [Peters] today with creating transition opportunities for us and the libero play from Logan [McDonald] was really strong. We just need to refocus and get another shot at them tomorrow."
UP NEXT
Next, the Royals are back to finish off the two-match series against McKendree in Lebanon, Ill. at 7:00 PM EST on Feb. 16.
SOCIAL MEDIA
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