VBelo Daily: March 11, 2026

The non-conference matches were great yesterday. And now we add some great conference matches in too!

The Bearcats fought off the Crusaders from a strong upsert bid. (McKendree Athletics)

Number of the Day

909 - The Inland Empire (IE) is inland, but I would hardly call it an empire. The IE is located in Southern California and has the area code 909. The closest hometown to the IE for a player from McKendree is Jack Morikawa (Yorba Linda, CA), but it is not the IE. In the fifth set of McKendree’s victory over Belmont Abbey, the Bearcats hit .909.¹ That is 10 kills on 11 swings with 0 errors. This number breaks my brain, but that is exactly what McKendree volleyball wants to do. Break brains and crush expectations.

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Yesterday’s Scores

Non-conference

Long Island (18%) def. Barry (82%)
3-0 (25-17, 25-15, 25-22)

North Greenville (80%) def. Carolina (20%)
3-1 (25-8, 25-12, 21-25, 25-14)

Tusculum (96%) def. Kentucky State (4%)
3-0 (25-6, 25-17, 25-14)

Barton (64%) def. Catawba (36%)
3-1 (19-25, 25-22, 25-22, 25-17)

McKendree (63%) def. Belmont Abbey (37%)
3-2 (25-21, 25-21, 22-25, 20-25, 15-3)

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Today’s Match Projections

Big West

UC Santa Barbara (11%) vs UC Irvine (89%)

SIAC

Fort Valley State (55%) vs Benedict (45%)

Non-conference

Regis College (71%) vs American International (29%)

Edward Waters (11%) vs Long Island (89%)

Belmont Abbey (18%) vs Lindenwood (82%)

Penn State (15%) vs Pepperdine (85%)

Princeton (11%) vs CSUN (89%)

1. This one is a stretch, but I don’t regret it!