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Purdue Fort Wayne
Ball State
'Dons Drop Tough MIVA Contest to Ball State
2/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 27, 2009
Muncie, IN - The Mastodons 7-5 (1-3 MIVA) opened with a tough game against conference rival Ball State Cardinals 6-4 (2-0 MIVA) on Friday night. Although the `Dons fought hard, they ran out of steam near the end of the match and lost 3-0 (23-30, 34-36, 23-30).
Freshman Phil Peterson led IPFW with 11 kills while Ben Duckworth totaled 10. Darryl Shank collected seven kills while Oliver Kook had six.
Kook also had a match high six blocks. Shank played aggresively with seven digs and four blocks.
Despite IPFW getting on the board first, IPFW looked a bit sluggish in the first game. Ball State jumped out front with solid blocking from the get-go, forcing coach Arnie Ball to call a time out at 13-7. The `Dons didn't let that get to them, and kept fighting, bringing the score back to within three. The Cardinals, with active passing, digging, and very solid blocking (eight team blocks) pulled away early on in the match and ended up pulling it out 30-23.
After a tough first set, IPFW came and played more cohesively, having made some adjustments. But, the Cardinals' Marcus Imwalle came out big with 15 kills. The teams stayed neck and neck most of the second set, with the largest margin of the game going to IPFW by four. BSU didn't take the lead until the 30 point mark when they went up 31-30. IPFW kept it close, but ultimately lost the set, 36-34.
In the third set, the `Dons kept things close early on but eventually ran out of steam. They pulled away at 20-18, and never recovered losing the third set 30-23.
Ball State attacked .300 as a team and was led by Marcus Imwalle with 16 kills. Outside hitter Todd Chamberlain played well also knocking in 13 kills. Middles J.D. Gasparovic, and Andy Nelson both hit over .429. Nelson finished with nine kills while Gasparovic finished with seven. The `Dons have the remainder of the weekend off returning to action next weekend when they play host to University of the Pacific on back-to-back nights March 6-7.
~Dons~
