Purdue Fort Wayne
19-11
IUPUI
20-10
Mastodons Sweep Jaguars in Summit Semifinal
11/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 20, 2009
Fargo, ND - The IPFW Mastodons swept the IUPUI Jaguars in the first Summit League semifinal match of the night (25-18, 25-21, 25-21), advancing to the championship match of the 2009 Summit League Tournament, hosted by North Dakota State University.
"In terms of executing a game plan and strategy, tonight was the best we have played all season," said IPFW Head Coach Kelley Hartley Hutton. "We won by playing aggressively. We served aggressively, passed well, and handled the first touch better than we have in a long time."
The Mastodons advance to the Championship Match of the Summit League Tournament for the second time in the last three years, and the team will play the winner of the UMKC/North Dakota State match, played immediately following the IPFW match.
"I'm proud of our senior class," said Hartley Hutton. "Our three seniors were freshmen on the team that won the Independent Tournament in 2006, and have made it to the conference tournament in the last three years, twice into the championship match. I'm not sure who we will see in the finals, but any time you play in the championship, you are doing everything possible to put yourself in a position to win the tournament."
The win gave the Mastodons a season-series-clinching second win between the two schools, as IPFW won the first meeting, before IUPUI evened the score with a 3-0 sweep two weeks ago.
"I reminded the team of that last loss to IUPUI all week," said the head coach. "They were sick of me saying it - it was like rubbing salt in that open wound. But it helped us to prepare in a more serious and focused fashion - because two weeks ago they cleaned our clocks."
Rebekah Roehm, who found out an evening earlier that she was named to the All-Summit League First Team for the third time in her career, had a match-high 18 kills, while Maya Schlindwein, who was named to the All-League Second Team, had 10 kills in the winning effort. Jamie Schwartz had a match-best 24 digs, as Tessa McGill had 10, and Roehm and Steenhuysen narrowly missed double figures with eight apiece.
Roehm and McGill each had three service aces in the win, as Steenhuysen dished out 38 assists, best in the match. Taryn Parker, who had four kills on seven swings, also added a match-high three blocks in the win.
The match opened with a back-and-forth battle between the two Indiana schools, and the Jaguars led by two at 9-7, before IPFW ran off a 7-2 run that included kills from Parker, Alli Hook, Roehm, and Schlindwein, in addition to a Parker service ace, giving IPFW a 14-11 lead after Roehm's first service ace of the match.
The Jaguars, the second seed in the tournament, scored two straight points to cut the deficit to one at 14-13, until an 8-2 IPFW run that saw IUPUI exhaust both of their timeouts, gave the Mastodons a seven-point, 21-15 lead. The 'Dons put the rest of the set on cruise control, winning the opening set of the tournament 25-18.
The second set started with a series of runs between the two teams, one streak matching the other, as IUPUI found themselves ahead at 11-10, forcing Hartley Hutton into her first timeout of the set. The Mastodons responded with great vigor after the timeout, scoring seven of the next eight points, four of those points coming from Roehm kills, to give the 'Dons a 17-12 lead.
The Mastodons would not give up their lead for the rest of the set; however, the Jaguars would give IPFW all they could handle, running off four straight points late in the set to turn a 23-18 IPFW lead into a 23-21 Mastodon advantage. After a timeout, IPFW scored the final two points of the set on a Roehm kill and a McGill service ace, sending the 'Dons into the intermission with a 2-0 lead after the 25-21 second set score.
The break between sets was initially beneficial for the Jaguars, as the second seed in the tournament jumped out to a quick 5-2 lead out of the gate, and led by three at 15-12 in the middle of the set.
With momentum seemingly behind the Jaguars, IPFW mounted a comeback of great proportions, scoring five straight points on a block by Parker, an IUPUI ballhandling error, back-to-back aces from McGill and a Jaguar attack error, to take their first lead of the set since the early goings of the frame.
A Monica Suding kill broke up the initial IPFW run, but the 'Dons rode their new-found momentum to the tune of four more points, predominantly on Jaguar errors (service error, attack error, and a ballhandling error), as a Roehm kill was sandwiched between the other three points, giving the ‘Dons a 21-16 lead.
Facing an end to their season, the Jaguars fought back, cutting the deficit to just one at 22-21, but the powerful IPFW offense struck again using three straight kills, including ending the match on back-to-back kills from Stephanie Lamberti to give the Mastodons their second Summit League Championship match appearance in the last three seasons.
IUPUI was led by Kalyse Reimbold who had 14 kills, as 2009 Summit League Setter of the Year Danielle Goodnight had a team-best 29 kills and 13 digs, with Rachel Holmes adding 13 digs as well.
The Championship Match is slated to begin at 8:00 PM EST at the Bentson Bunker Fieldhouse, on the campus of North Dakota State University.
~Dons~
