Purdue Fort Wayne
Oakland
Mastodons Win Conference Thriller in Five
10/2/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Oct. 2, 2009
Rochester, MI – The IPFW Mastodons (10-7, 4-3 Summit League) won their second-straight five-set thriller, topping Oakland University, who came into the match with the second best record in the Summit League this season, by scores of 25-18, 23-25, 22-25, 25-20, 20-18, the 16th straight time that IPFW has bested Oakland (11-3, 5-2 Summit League).
Senior middle hitter Rebekah Roehm had a Summit League- and school-record 94 attempts, five more than the previous conference record of 89, set by both Casey Chraztowski of IUPUI against Chicago State on October 30, 2004 and by Mackenzie Angner of South Dakota State against UMKC on November 14, 2008.
Senior libero Jamie Schwartz totaled 43 digs, also a new school record, and the second most in Summit League history. Her 43 were only out-done in the conference by the 54 dug up by Becky Dreher of Oral Roberts at Western Illinois on November 5, 2004, and tops the previous five-set school record of 39 by Peachy Jankowski on October 21, 2007, also against Oakland and the overall school record of 42, also held by Jankowski against North Dakota State on November 16, 2007.
As a team, IPFW also set a new school record for digs in a five-set match, with 124, five more than the 119 that the team totaled against Western Illinois on October 13, 2007.
Roehm’s attempt record netted her a career-high 27 kills, tied for the sixth highest total in school history, as junior outside hitter Maya Schlindwein doubled her previous season-best kill total with 22. Schlindwein and Roehm picked up 49 of the team’s 64 kills in the victory. Each of the aforementioned pair picked up a double-double for their efforts, as Roehm had 18 digs, and Schlindwein 14, to give the senior her 29th career double-double, and the seventh of the season, and the junior her first of the season and third of her career.
Freshman defensive specialist Tessa McGill had 24 digs in the match, second highest freshman five-set total in school history, as Shannon Reuter also added 19 digs, giving the Mastodons five players in double figures in the category. The senior setter, Reuter, dished out 49 assists for her second straight double-double, and her fourth in her last six matches. Roehm and Schlindwein each had a pair of service aces, with junior middle hitter Taryn Parker picking up eight blocks, with Roehm adding five and Ali Hook and Shannon Reuter each blocking four.
The first set would be a small caption of what the entire match would be like, as neither team was able to lead by more than one through the first 24 points of the game, before IPFW ran off three straight points to lead by three at 15-12. The ‘Dons would hold their three-point advantage at 17-14, before the hosts ran off four straight points to re-take the lead at 18-17.
A Meghan Bray service error for Oakland gave IPFW the serve and with the match now tied at 18, Shannon Reuter led a 7-0 set-ending run that included kills from Parker and Schlindwein, a solo block by Roehm, a combo block from Roehm and Parker and two kills from Roehm, including the match-finisher off an assist from McGill.
IPFW capitalized on the late momentum at the end of the first set, and jumped ahead 5-2 to open the second frame, but the strong Oakland squad quickly fought back, eventually taking a two-point, 10-8 lead. IPFW could do no better than tie the score at 10, before Oakland ran off a series of small runs to lead by four at 22-18.
Seeing the end of the road nearing, IPFW fought back, and used a 5-1 run to cut the deficit to one at 24-23, but an Adrienne Leone kill ended the hopes of a Mastodon comeback at 25-23, sending the teams into the break between sets knotted at one set victory apiece.
Oakland jumped ahead to start the third set, and seemed in control ahead 7-3, and looking to pull away in the match, but a trio of IPFW small runs knotted the score at 13. There would be ten total tie scores in the set, and five lead changes as IPFW was able to take a 19-17 lead after a Parker solo block.
As much as IPFW used a late run to close the first set, Oakland used one to close the third, using an 8-3 run to turn a 19-17 Mastodon lead into a 25-22 Golden Grizzly third-set victory, as the hosts closed the set on a Jenna Lange kill.
With their backs against the wall trailing 2-1 in the match, IPFW trailed only at 2-1, as the Mastodons were able to jump ahead by five at 11-6 early in the set. IPFW’s lead would never grow larger than five, but was equaled numerous times, including at 18-13, 19-14, 22-17, and most importantly at 25-20 after a combo block from Schlindwein and Hook, as IPFW totaled nearly half of their final match block total, five, in the fourth frame.
The Mastodons jumped ahead early to start the fifth and deciding set, leading 7-3 before the hosts ran off nine of the next 11 points to lead 12-9. IPFW, however, was in a similar situation in their last match, trailing Wright State 12-10 before coming back to win, and used that confidence to run of four consecutive points to knot the set at 13 apiece.
From then on it was a back-and-forth battle, with the teams easily surpassing the 15 total points needed to win the deciding set, as Oakland served four times for match point, but were denied each time by IPFW. Oakland led 18-17 after a kill from Leone, before Roehm pounded down her final kill of the match to knot the score at 18. An attack error by the Grizzlies’ Ashley Nevelle put IPFW ahead and serving for the match, before Hook ended the contest with her sixth kill, securing the conference win for the Mastodons.
Leone had a team-high 22 kills for Oakland on 81 attempts, now tied for the fifth highest single-match total in Summit League history. Meghan Bray and Brittany Holbrook each had 14 kills to help the cause for the Golden Grizzlies. Nevelle dished out 51 assists, while picking up 15 digs for the double-double. Leone also had a double-double in the match with 21 digs, as Brittany Dunn had 32 digs to lead the team, with Alli Kirk adding 22 and Jillian Kulka 10.
IPFW now plays six of their next eight matches in the friendly surroundings of the Hilliard Gates Sports Center, as the team hosts Western Illinois on October 9, before hosting IUPUI on October 10th in the school’s “Pink Out” contest, in which IPFW will donate $1 for every ticket sold to benefit the research and to help raise awareness for breast cancer. Last season the Mastodon women’s volleyball team and IPFW donated $4,022 earned during the match on tickets and donations, in addition to funds raised during Fort Wayne’s “Making Strides” walk through downtown.
~Dons~
