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Purdue Fort Wayne
Rutgers-Newark
IPFW Holds Off Scarlet Raiders in Five
3/27/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
March 27, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - IPFW needed five games to hold off the visiting Scarlet Raiders of Rutgers-Newark Friday night at the Gates Sports Center. The Mastodons finished off the Raiders 3-2 (28-30, 30-23, 30-23, 28-30, 15-13) to end a four match losing streak.
Darryl Shank led all players with 28.5 points including 23 kills and Ben Duckworth added 16 for the `Dons.
IPFW jumped to a quick start in the first frame, going ahead by four early on. But the Raiders fought their way back into the game to tie it at 11. The `Dons didn't have quite enough steam, and gave up the first game to RNU despite eight kills from Shank.
That didn't stop the `Dons as they came back in full furry during the second game. After keeping it close during the beginning, the `Dons scored four unanswered points to take the lead to 12-7 forcing a RNU timeout. IPFW continued to rally, pulling away to 20-12, but the Raiders weren't ready to quit. They worked to pull the game back within reach at 22-20, but Dan Mader's strong serving gave the `Dons the advantage and Shank put IPFW into position with game point before finishing the set with a service ace.
After the break, both teams came out looking sharp. After the Mastodons jumped out to a 5-1 lead, in part due to three attack errors by the Raiders, RNU kept fighting to tie it at seven. But Shank came on strong in the third set, setting the tone for IPFW to go on a 7-0 run. After taking the lead, IPFW never looked back, and took game three 30-23.
Game four was littered with service errors for both teams. IPFW came out flat and couldn't gain momentum early on. The `Dons trailed by five at 3-8 forcing Arnie Ball to call a timeout. The Raiders led by as many as six, but that wasn't enough to make the `Dons give up. They fought hard and brought the lead within two at 22-24, but were overtaken by the Raiders, and despite pulling within one at 28-29, forfeited the fourth set to RNU.
Game five was a new game, and both teams felt the urgency of the hour. After three errors that took the score to 3-6, IPFW was forced to call timeout. This worked to freeze the serve, and the `Dons regained the serve and went on a 5-2 run to tie things up at 8-8. The `Dons trailed at 10-11, but a huge kill from Oliver Kook from the middle and back-to-back kills from Duckworth gave IPFW a 13-11 lead. After an IPFW attack error and a RNU service ace, the match was again tied at 13-13. Shank then connected on a kill from Mader, and a Scarlet Raider attack error brought the crowd to its feet and gave IPFW the set (15-13) and match.
Dan Mader had a season and career-high 50 assists to go along with seven digs. Morici led the `Dons with 10 digs while Duckworth had nine and Shank had eight. Shank also helped IPFW with six blocks.
Nate Stott led the Scarlet Raiders with 15 kills. Liran Shapiro had 46 assists and five blocks for RNU. Jon Keller led all players with eight blocks.
The Mastodons return to the Gates Sports Center tomorrow (Saturday) to battle the EIVA's George Mason University at 7:00 PM.
~Dons~
