Purdue Fort Wayne
Belmont
`Dons Fall to Belmont in Four
9/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 6, 2008
Nashville, TN – Despite winning the first set in a best-of-five format, the IPFW Mastodons fell in four sets to tournament host Belmont in the middle contest of the Belmont Invitational. The ‘Dons were toppled 19-25, 25-18, 25-16, 25-22 in the match, dropping the team to 0-5 on the season.
Senior Jessica Miller had a team-high 13 kills, while also leading the team with a .296 attack percentage and two service aces. Jessica Dominiak dished out 37 assists, with Jamie Schwartz picking up 13 digs, a season-high for the junior. Taryn Parker led IPFW with three blocks, with freshman Ashley Dillon and Kylee Hervey adding two blocks in the losing effort.
The first set saw a nip-and-tuck battle, as the teams had an equal point total through the first 20 points of the set. IPFW scored the next three points to push ahead by three, Belmont fought back, scoring six of the next seven points to push ahead by two at 16-14. From that point the Mastodons dominated, out-scoring the Bruins 11-3 the rest of the way to pick up a 25-19 first-set victory.
In the second frame, the ‘Dons found themselves down 7-2 early on; however, the visitors were able to recover and tie the set at 12 apiece, capping a 10-5 run for IPFW. The Bruins, after seeing their lead closed, scored the next three points, and used that momentum to cruise to a 25-18 second-set win.
The third set was nearly a duplicate of the second, as the Bruins jumped out to a 6-2 lead, only to see IPFW knot the frame at 10 all. A 4-0 Belmont run gave the hosts another lead, as the Bruins out-scored IPFW 15-6 after the ‘Dons tied the set.
Set four saw a large amount of back-and-forth action, as the largest lead through the first 25 points of the set being three after a Hervey kill, giving IPFW an early 8-5 advantage. The two teams were even at 12 apiece before the Bruins unleashed a 5-1 streak to give Belmont a four-point lead, one they would not relinquish for the remainder of the set, giving the hosts the four-set victory in the match.
Belmont put a trio of players in double figure kills, led by Cat Mundy’s 13. Emily Cahill and Maggie Johnson had 11 and 10 kills, respectively, with Channing Salava and Megan Clements picking up a dozen digs each.
IPFW heads back to the court later this afternoon as they compete in their final match of the Invitational.
~Dons~
