One of the biggest home non-conference matches for No. 15 McKendree in program history wasn’t too big of a moment for setter Nate Flayter.
If anything, the reigning Division II National Player of the Year elevated to another level.
Flayter had a match-high four aces and guided the offense to a .329 attack percentage as McKendree swept No. 10/9 Penn State 25-23, 25-16, 25-20 on Friday in Lebanon, Illinois.
McKendree hit more than .350 in each of the first two games and had a combined five errors in both games – four fewer errors than Penn State.
Flayter also had back-to-back aces as part of a 7-1 run to close out the second game. The setter added another ace early in the third game and was serving early in an 8-3 match-ending run.
Two Bearcats finished with at least five kills and zero errors to help end the Nittany Lions’ four-match winning streak to start the season.
Outside attacker Sam Hoskin led all players with 12 kills and hit .600, including a game-high six kills in the final game. In addition, middle attacker Will Klimek contributed five kills on a match-best .625 attack percentage.
Klimek added a match-high five blocks in the opener of this two-match series.
Penn State outside attacker Sean Harvey in the loss had a team-high 11 kills on a .429 attack percentage. Harvey, though, was the only Nittany Lion to have more than five kills and hit more than .200.
This was the second time in program history that the Bearcats beat a top-10 nationally ranked team in non-conference play.