Purdue Fort Wayne
Xavier
'Dons Snap Xavier Win Streak
10/14/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 14, 2008
Fort Wayne, IN – The IPFW Mastodons climbed above .500 for the first time this season as they snapped Xavier’s six-match win streak with a 3-1 (27-29, 25-20, 25-23, 25-18) non-conference victory on Tuesday evening. The win over the Musketeers is the first for IPFW since the first meeting of the series, in 1983.
Junior Rebekah Roehm recorded her second consecutive 25-kill match, which ties her career high, with freshman Ashley Dillon adding 17. Shannon Reuter, in her second consecutive start, dished out a season-high 57 assists, with Jamie Schwartz digging up 21 kill attempts. Roehm and Dillon each had two service aces, while Taryn Parker led the ‘Dons with six blocks, while Kylee Hervey and Roehm each added four.
There were a total of 16 ties and five lead changes in the tight opening set, as each team was able to snag at least a two-point lead during the frame, with the largest lead by either team coming when Xavier jumped ahead 20-17. The ‘Dons rallied back from that three-point deficit, running off three straight points to tie the set at 20 apiece. Xavier was on the verge of taking the opening-set victory, leading 24-23, until back-to-back Musketeer attack errors gave IPFW a 25-24 lead. The visitors rallied back, tying the set at 27 apiece before scoring the final two points of the frame to claim the 29-27 victory.
IPFW jumped out to a quick 3-1 lead in the second set, before Xavier rallied, scoring six of the next eight points, forcing the ‘Dons into a timeout after jumping ahead 7-5. The Musketeers kept their lead until the ‘Dons took ahead 16-15, the early portions of an 8-0 IPFW run, giving the hosts a comfortable 21-15 lead, as they cruised into the mid-match break with a 25-20 second-set victory.
Xavier came out of the break with a strong 4-0 run, before IPFW chipped away at the deficit with a trio of 2-0 runs and a 3-0 run, leading for the first time in the frame at 7-6, and later at 10-8 and 11-9 before the Musketeers scored six straight points to jump ahead 14-12. IPFW would not have their spirit broken; however, as they used a pair of small runs, 3-0 and 2-0, to tie the set at 17. The teams were tied at 21 before the aforementioned 3-0 run pushed IPFW ahead 24-21. Xavier scored two points to put a scare into the Mastodons, but a kill by Roehm ended the comeback chance in the third set.
In the fourth and eventual final set, IPFW had a stellar side-out percentage of 78.0, while running off small two and three point runs of their own, trailing only at the beginning of the set at 0-1 and 1-2. Dillon capped the match with a powerful kill, giving the ‘Dons their first victory over Xavier since the 1983 season.
Xavier’s Kelly Ruth put up the second highest four-set kill total by an IPFW opponent with 27, as she slugged to a percentage of .442. Hillary Otte added 11 kills, with Jenn Welsh dished out 52 assists. Three Musketeers, Claire Paskiewicz, Ruth and Welsh recorded double-figure digs with 12, 12, and 10, respectively, while two players, Otte and Chelsea Campbell had three blocks.
IPFW plays its next four matches on the road, starting this coming weekend when the team travels west to take on the Westerwinds of Western Illinois University with first serve set for 8:00 PM eastern time, before the team heads east to face off against the IUPUI Jaguars on the 18th with first serve coming at 7:00.
