Purdue Fort Wayne
North Dakota State
Mastodons Fall in Five to Bison
9/18/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 18, 2009
Fort Wayne, IN - In a battle of the top two teams in the Summit League preseason coaches poll, the loud Hilliard Gates Sports Center crowd got everything they could want, as the five-set match saw 43 ties and 15 lead changes; however, the IPFW Mastodons fell to the North Dakota State Bison, picked first in the preseason poll, 3-2 (27-29, 25-27, 25-14, 25-23, 15-8).
Stephanie Lamberti, who tied her career-high with 11 kills on Tuesday against Western Michigan, topped that total with 15 tonight, as Rebekah Roehm also knocked down 15. Shannon Reuter picked up her second straight season-high in assists with 37, as Jamie Schwartz dug up 28 digs, the most in a match this season for the senior, and tied for the second-highest total of her career.
Four others reached double figures in the dig column, including Roehm (12), Reuter (18), and Lamberti (10), who picked up their 26th, seventh, and first career double-doubles, respectively. Maya Schlindwein added 14 digs, with Taryn Parker blocking eight kill attempts, as the `Dons out-blocked North Dakota State 13-11 in the marathon-match.
The loss snaps a two-match win streak for IPFW (6-6, 1-2 Summit League), as they previously toppled UMKC and 2008 NCAA "Sweet 16" participant Western Michigan, and nearly snapped a 21-match regular season conference win streak for the Bison (7-2, 3-0 Summit League), who swept through the Summit League last season at 16-0, before falling in the NCAA First Round to nationally ranked Minnesota behind the Summit League Player of the Year, then-freshman Chrissy Knuth.
Lamberti came out with a blazing right arm in the opening set, pounding down eight kills in the frame, as the first set had a match-high 15 tie scores and five lead changes. In the knock-down, drag-out first set, the largest lead gained by either team would be two points. NDSU opened the match with two straight points, to take a 2-0 lead, before IPFW rebounded to tie the score two points later.
The back-and-forth would continue, with the longest run of the set coming with IPFW ahead 17-15 following a combo block by Schlindwein and Parker. The Bison responded with a 4-0 run on a pair of kills from both Jennifer Lopez and Janna Deyle, turning the two-point IPFW lead into a two-point Mastodon deficit.
The lead would be short-lived, with IPFW scoring the next two points to re-tie the match at 19. IPFW used a late 2-0 run to serve for match-point at 24-22, until the Bison scored two straight to re-tie the match. In the extra points, IPFW never trailed, and served for set-point six times overall in the frame, with the last coming at 28-27, when Lauren McLaughlin, the Summit League Co-Player of the Week last week, recorded an attack error to send the Mastodons to a 29-27 first-set win.
The Mastodons returned the favor of a quick start, as the hosts scored the first three points of the second set, and led by as many as three on three separate occasions, the largest lead by either team in the match to that point. The strong Bison squad rebounded, and after trailing 6-3, the visitors went on a 9-4 run, to lead by two at 12-10, following a kill by Knuth.
IPFW answered with a run of their own, out-scoring NDSU 13-6 to lead by five at 23-18. With the match seemingly in hand with the momentum clearly on the Mastodons' side, the Bison rattled off six consecutive points to turn the 23-18 deficit into a 24-23 lead, and serving for set point. The teams traded sideouts on the next three serves, before the `Dons closed strong with a kill by Parker and a combo block from Schlindwein and Parker to send the Mastodons into the halftime break ahead two sets to none following a 27-25 second-set victory.
The Bison were able to re-group during the ten minute break between sets, as the visitors trailed just twice, at 4-3 and 5-4, as the Mastodons were out-scored 10-1 over the next 11 points, giving the visitors a 14-6 lead. IPFW would only close to within as few as fie points, before NDSU closed the set with a 7-1 run to avoid the three-set sweep with the 25-14 fourth-set win.
The fourth set was eerily similar to the first two, with neither team able to pull away at any point of the frame. A dozen ties and four lead changes followed, as the teams were tied at 15 before NDSU took the momentum with runs of 4-0 and 3-0, separated only by a 2-0 run for the Mastodons. IPFW trailed by five at 22-17 before the hosts furiously fought back, shrugging off the deficit by closing to within one at 23-22 following a second straight attack error by Knuth. A Parker attack error had the Bison serving for set point, before Schlindwein pounded down a Reuter pass to once again climb to within one at 24-23 until a Megan Lambertson/Jennifer Lopez combo block sent the match into a fifth and deciding set at 25-23.
In the fifth and final set, IPFW tied the match at one after Jen Krumwiede kill, before the visitors scored the next four points to lead 5-1. The Mastodons would twice lose the gap to two points, the latest at 6-4, but the early four-point deficit would be too much to overcome, as the Bison were able to pull away in the finale 15-8.
Sophomore setter Jennifer Lopez recorded a triple-double with 11 kills, 40 assists, and 17 digs, her second straight against the Mastodons, as now the most recent three triple-doubles against the Mastodons have come courtesy of the Bison (Lopez' and Christy Stuewe in 2007). Knuth, the reigning conference Player of the Year, had a match-high 23 kills, with McLaughlin adding 14. Mattie Johnson added 16 assists, with Kelly Lopez, the older sister of Jennifer, had a match-high 29 digs with Brooke VandenBergh adding 14. Knuth's eight blocks were tops on the squad.
The Mastodons get right back on the court in less than 24 hours as the `Dons will host the Jackrabbits of South Dakota State, who fell in five sets tonight to the Grizzlies of Oakland University, tomorrow, with first-serve set for 7:00 PM at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center.
~Dons~
