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Purdue Fort Wayne
Lewis
Lewis Flies Past IPFW
2/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 6, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - Despite playing extra points in the first set Friday night, IPFW's men's volleyball team 4-3 (1-2 MIVA) lost to No. 14 Lewis 4-2 (1-1 MIVA) 0-3 (32-34, 20-30, 26-30).
Sophomore Darryl Shank led the way for IPFW with 12 kills. Fellow sophomore Ben Duckworth collected nine, while Nathaniel Berg and Ivan Matos both logged five.
Lewis' Drew Pickering led all players with 19 kills (19-3-28) to hit .571.
The Flyers scored first with an attack from the left side from Pickering. Pickering then served an ace to take a 2-0 lead.
Oliver Kook got the Mastodons on the board with an attack from the middle. IPFW stayed aggressive during the first stanza and kept the set close. The `Dons tied it up at eight with a service ace from Duckworth. Lewis then rattled off four straight points to force an IPFW timeout. Later in the set, IPFW got two blocks in the same rally from Berg and Shank and pulled to within one at 23-22. Next Berg nailed a kill from the middle to tie the match at 23 and force a Flyer timeout.
IPFW took its first lead of the match at 24-23 before a Mastodon service error knotted things back up. The match was tied was tied at 26 when IPFW called its final timeout. Set one stayed knotted up at 28 before an attack from the left side gave Lewis the go-ahead and set point. The score then was again tied at 30 before a serve from Meyer clipped the tape of the net and found the floor for an ace 31-30. Unfortunately for the `Dons, set one ended 34-32.
The `Dons jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second frame before Lewis rallied back logging five straight points. Lewis' pressure continued as they led 15-9 at the media timeout. The Flyers led by seven when junior setter Corey Stewart subbed in for Dan Mader. The Flyers led by as many as 10 at 25-15 before Stewart one-handed a joust at the net 25-16. Lewis secured the next point to lead 26-16. IPFW called its first timeout at 28-18. Shank delayed a game point for Lewis as he nailed a kill on the right side. Game two ended 30-20 with a kill from Lewis.
Set three started with a kill from Shank. The `Dons started the third frame with four freshmen. Eric Hardek, Corey Frain, Matos, and Chris Brigson began the game along side Stewart and Shank.
Despite the youth on the floor, the `Dons kept it close early, as the score was tied 3-3 and 4-4. Lewis gained ground leading 12-9, but the resilient `Dons tried to crawl back trailing only by one at 13-12, and 14-13. The Flyers' Billy Sahagian nailed a kill to lead 15-13 going into the officials' timeout. In perhaps the longest rally of the match, the Mastodons seemed to be at a loss multiple times before Lewis was caught in the web as the `Dons closed in on the lead at 21-19. IPFW gained ground again trailing by only one at 24-23. Lewis then collected consecutive points to lead by three at 26-23 and force coach Arnie Ball to call a timeout. Matos hit a cross-court kill from the left side pulling the `Dons within two at 26-24. The Flyers never let up however as Pickering answered the call and closed the door on the `Dons in the final frame 30-26.
Mader and Stewart shared time at setter for the `Dons tallying 22 and 16 assists respectively, while Lewis setter Mike Iandolo collected 56.
The `Dons next host first-year program Grand Canyon University on back-to-back nights February 13-14. Both matches are set to start at 7:00 PM.
~Dons~
