Purdue Fort Wayne
Ball State
Mastodons Swept by Ball State 3-0
9/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 4, 2009
Muncie, IN – Maya Schlindwein’s 11 kills were not enough to help the IPFW Mastodons top the Cardinals of Ball State University in the first round of the Ball State Active Ankle Challenge on Friday night in Muncie. Ball State toppled the 'Dons in straight sets, 26-24, 25-18, 25-19.
Schlindwein knocked down a team-high 11 kills in the loss, as Rebekah Roehm had eight and Stephanie Lamberti seven. Tessa McGill, playing in front of her hometown crowd, dug up a team-high 12 digs in the match, with Jamie Schwartz and Roehm adding 11 and 10, respectively. Roehm’s three blocks were tops on the team, as freshman Megan Steenhuysen edged out senior Shannon Reuter in total assists 16-to-13.
IPFW opened the match strong, scoring on a Julie Breivogel attack error and a Schlindwein service ace before the Cardinals quickly responded with a 4-0 run on three kills and a block. The Cardinals would keep pushing early in the frame, using a 3-0 run on a pair kills by Charde’ Phillips and another by Alisha Green to take to an 8-5 lead and force IPFW into a timeout.
IPFW quickly fought back behind the strength of a 3-0 run to tie the set at nine, before another 4-0 run, Ball State’s second of the match, pushed the hosts ahead 13-9. The ‘Dons used a series of 2-0 runs to close the gap to two at 17-15, before the Blue and White ran off a set-high four straight points, to turn the 17-15 deficit into a 19-17 lead. From that point the set was back-and-forth, with IPFW leading 24-23, and serving for the match, before the hosts ran off the final three points of the first set to win the opening frame 26-24.
In the second set Ball State jumped out to a strong 5-1 lead following a 4-0 run before IPFW countered back with a 3-0 run, and then a 4-0 streak to take an 8-7 lead, and forcing Ball State into their first timeout of the set. IPFW led 10-9 following a Roehm ace, before the hosts took over, using runs of 4-0, 3-0 and 4-0 to turn the one-point deficit into an eight-point, 21-13 lead.
IPFW mounted a comeback, a 3-0 run on kills by Alli Hook, Roehm, and Schwartz to cut the deficit to five at 22-17, but the Ball State lead was too large, as the hosts scored three of the final four points to win the second set 25-18.
As was the trend in the first and second set, Ball State jumped out to an early lead, 8-3, before IPFW used runs, three separate 3-0 streaks, to take to a lead, 13-11. Like in the first two, Ball State used a late run, 8-0, to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 19-13 lead. The host Cardinals were able to hold off a late IPFW charge that cut the BSU lead to four, topping the Mastodons 25-19 in the third and final set of the match.
Ball State was led by Green, who had a match-high 17 kills, with teammate Phillips adding 14, as the two combined for well over half of BSU’s 48 total kills. Christie Waters dug out 18 digs for the hosts, while Brittany McGinnis dished out 35 assists.
The Mastodons will look to regroup tomorrow morning, as they will face off against another set of Cardinals, this group from Louisville, with first-serve set for 10:00 AM at Ball State’s Worthen Arena.
~Dons~
