Purdue Fort Wayne
North Dakota State
Mastodons Fall to Conference-Leading Bison in Three Sets
10/17/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 17, 2009
Fargo, ND – The IPFW Mastodons were swept by the Summit League-leading Bison of North Dakota State on Saturday evening in front of 1,147 fans in the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, 25-19, 25-11, 25-21.
The loss drops IPFW (12-9, 6-5 Summit League) into a tie for third place in the Summit League, behind North Dakota State (15-3, 11-0 Summit League); and Oakland, one game ahead of IPFW at 7-4. IUPUI after their loss tonight to UMKC is tied with IPFW at 6-4, and Oral Roberts, who was idle this week, trails IPFW by one match at 5-4.
Maya Schlindwein led IPFW with a dozen kills, as Rebekah Roehm tallied eight, to snap her double-figure kill streak at 15, the fourth longest during IPFW’s rally-scoring era. Alli Hook and Shannon Reuter each had two blocks on the afternoon. Jamie Schwartz had 14 digs, running her consecutive double-digit dig streak to 15, while Roehm added 10, and Tessa McGill nine. Reuter dished out a team-best 16 assists, with Megan Steenhuysen adding 10 in the losing effort.
The first set opened with each team taking off on a run, starting when North Dakota State jumped out to a 3-0 lead to open the match. With the Mastodons trailing 5-2, IPFW ran off six straight points, which included a trio of Schlindwein kills, and kills from Roehm and Stephanie Lamberti, giving IPFW the 8-5 advantage.
The host Bison fought back, eventually tying the set at 9, 10, 11, and 12, until the hosts ran off three straight to push ahead 15-12. IPFW would only get as close as two the rest of the way, as the hosts used two more 3-0 runs to cruise to the 25-19 opening-set win.
The second set started as a repeat of the first, with the teams trading sideouts and tied at five apiece, before NDSU scored six straight points to lead 11-5. The Bison also rattled off runs of 5-0, 4-0, and 3-0 to lead 23-8, while not allowing the Mastodons to score on their serve until the hosts recorded their 24th point of the set, as North Dakota State took the second set 25-11.
North Dakota State, which has now won 30 straight Summit League volleyball matches, the second longest streak on league history, jumped ahead 3-0 in the third and final set; however, IPFW countered with a 4-0 run which consisted of a Bison attack error, and kills from Roehm, Schlindwein and Taryn Parker, pushing IPFW ahead 5-4, in what would end up being their final lead of the match. A 5-1 run by the Bison put the hosts ahead, to a 9-6 lead, as they kept their advantage until the Mastodons knotted the score at 18 apiece. The teams then traded sideouts, keeping the set tied, this time at 19, before NDSU ran off four consecutive points, and then closed the match on a Chrissy Knuth kill, her 19th of the night, giving the hosts the final-set win.
Knuth’s 19 kills were a match-high, as she also hit a blistering .586 (2 errors, 29 attempts). Jennifer Lopez dished out 44 assists, as Kelly Lopez and Brooke VandenBergh each had 17 digs.
The Mastodons return to action on Friday, October 23, at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center when the host Centenary to open a three-match weekend that also includes home dates against Oral Roberts (October 24), and Missouri State (October 25). First-serve for the weekend opener is slated for 7:00 PM.
~Dons~
