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Nathan Flayter following a block late in the fifth game walked over to the stands and emphatically threw his hands up over his head multiple times to excite the home crowd.
The setter had ample reason to be that fired up given the comeback from No. 10/9 McKendree.
McKendree rallied from a two-game deficit to beat Lindenwood 22-25, 22-25, 25-20, 25-25-22, 15-11 on Wednesday to extend its winning streak to 11 matches.
Flayter guided the McKendree offense to out-hit Lindenwood .327 to .232. The Bearcats after being held to a .045 attack percentage in the second game hit more than .475 both the third and fourth games to force a fifth game.
Outside attacker Kevin Schuele led McKendree with 15 kills on a .367 attack percentage, including a game-high six kills in the fourth game. Schuele with McKendree leading 11-10 in the fifth game also had a kill that began a 4-1 run to close out the match.
Middle attacker D’Aaron McCraney contributed nine kills and zero errors on a .600 attack percentage, while pin-hitter Nikos Xydakis had 12 kills and hit .304.
Along with the offensive performance, Xydakis had a match-high four aces.
McKendree out-blocked Lindenwood 11 to 5 with McCraney and middle attacker Rolen Lively each having a match-high five blocks. Flayter added four blocks against the Lions.
Both Lively and Flayter also had back-to-back blocks as part of McKendree’s match-ending 4-1 run.
Lindenwood was limited to a match-low negative-.043 attack percentage in the final game.
Pin-hitters Carter Stenmark and Jacob Christopher in the loss both finished with a match-high 17 kills.
McKendree with this victory remains in sole possession of first place in the MIVA with six remaining regular season matches. The Bearcats are attempting to win their first conference regular season championship in program history.