Purdue Fort Wayne
Western Illinois
Mastodons Sweep Leathernecks
11/7/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 7, 2009
Macomb, IL – The IPFW Mastodons swept the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Saturday evening 25-23, 25-20, 25-22, shrugging off any after-effects of the team’s tough three-set loss the night before, moving one step closer to earning their third Summit League Tournament bid in as many years in the league.
Rebekah Roehm tied for the match-high with 15 kills, as Maya Schlindwein added 10. Taryn Parker and Stephanie Lamberti were each near the double-figure mark with seven kills each. Roehm led the team with 11 digs for her 35th career double-double, which ties the senior for the fifth most career double-doubles in school history.
Schlindwein led the team with four blocks, as Alli Hook and Parker had three apiece. Schlindwein also added a trio of service aces, as freshman setter Megan Steenhuysen dished out 41 assists, as 44 of the team’s 45 kills were assisted on the evening.
With the evening’s win, the Mastodons improve to 10-6 in the Summit League, and have moved into third place in the league standings with one weekends’ worth of contests remaining. North Dakota State has secured the regular season title, and IUPUI has a slim lead on the IPFW and Oakland for the second seed. The Jaguars are 11-6 in the conference, while the Mastodons and Grizzlies are both 10-6, with IPFW holding the tiebreaker over their travel partner, Oakland.
IPFW trailed on just one occasion in the opening set, when the hosts scored the match’s first point, leading 1-0, before the Mastodons ran off runs of 5-0 and 3-0 to lead by six at 18-12. Ahead by six at 24-18, the Leathernecks fought back, scoring five straight points to put the set in doubt, but a Roehm kill ended the comeback hopes for the hosts in the 25-23 opening-set win.
Early goings in the second set were a tight effort, as the teams found themselves tied at every increment from two to six, and again at eight before the hosts ran off three straight points to lead 11-8. The Western Illinois lead grew to as many as four at 17-13, before the ‘Dons mounted a comeback, ending the set on a 12-3 run, putting IPFW ahead 2-0 heading into the between-set intermission.
Western Illinois jumped ahead early in the third set, but would lead by only as many as two on a pair of occasions, until IPFW scored six straight points to lead by five at 11-6. The ‘Dons would not trail again; however, the feisty Leatherneck squad fought back, and eventually tied the set at 20 and 21. With the team’s knotted at 21, IPFW put its foot on the gas pedal, and scored four of the match’s last five points to secure the sweep.
Cait Egan led Western Illinois with 15 kills, as Krissy Bergquist added 13. Ellen Miller had a match-best 20 digs, with Lindsay Muehlbauer adding 14. Miller, in addition to her high dig total, dished out 40 assists to pace the Leathernecks.
The Mastodons host UMKC and Southern Utah to cap the 2009 regular season at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
~Dons~
