%20(2).png&width=32&type=webp)
Purdue Fort Wayne
Carthage
`Dons Drop Five-Set Heartbreaker to Carthage
1/23/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Jan. 23, 2010
Fort Wayne, IN – Looking to bounce back from a Friday night conference loss, a feisty Carthage College Redmen squad stole away a five-set heartbreaker from the Mastodons, 22-30, 30-25, 29-31, 30-21, 17-15.
The ‘Dons jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in the opening set and never looked back. The ‘Dons were able to extend the advantage to as many as seven at 19-12 before slamming the door with four of the final five points of the set, taking the opening frame 30-22.
The first set victory is IPFW’s fourth in five matches thus far in the 2010 campaign. Senior middle blocker Oliver Kook paced the Mastodon offense with eight kills and three block assists in set one.
Unable to carry the momentum into the second frame, it was the Redmen who took advantage of the set’s sloppy pace. Capitalizing on six Mastodon service errors, Carthage fought to slowly build their steady lead, eventually reaching four at 24-20. An Eric Ball kill sealed the Redmen’s second set victory at 30-25.
After trading serves through the start of set three, Carthage used a three-point run to push the lead to 16-13. After runs by both sides, trading leads, Corey Frain fired an ace to knot the set at 28 and Elon Fyfield slammed home a kill to set up a critical set-point opportunity for the ‘Dons.
A kill off the hand of Carthage’s Tom O’Connell tied the game at 29 and the ‘Dons watched as a Matt Yanz ace found the floor before misfiring on the ensuing attack to give the set to Carthage with a heart-breaking 31-29 loss.
Trailing two sets to one, the fire was lit under the Mastodons in the fourth frame. A slow-building lead reached as many as six for the ‘Dons at 26-20 before junior Patrick Pinto took the serve and led the ‘Dons to four straight points, knotting the match at two sets a piece with a 30-21 IPFW win.
The sloppy pace again showed up in the fifth tie-break set as six of the set’s first 14 points came from serving errors. The Redmen jumped out to an 8-6 lead at the mid-point. The Redmen failed to capitalize on a match-point serve at 14-13, Carthage and the ‘Dons left an opportunity on the board as they sat on a 15-14 lead of their own.
Yanz again stuffed the IPFW set-point with a kill before a bad set whistle on the ‘Dons gave the Redmen the daylight they needed. An IPFW attack error fell to the floor and the Redmen took the set and the match at 17-15, sealing the 3-2 victory.
Four Mastodons logged double-digit kills in the match. Darryl Shank led the offense with 20 kills, trailed by Ivan Matos at 17, Oliver Kook at 15 and Elon Fyfield at 12.
Setter Dan Mader posted 45 saves and Shaun Dryden led the defensive backline with 18 digs.
The ‘Dons fall to 2-3 overall with the loss and will look to even their season slate Friday (Jan. 29) as they host the George Mason Patriots of the EIVA. First serve is scheduled for 7 p.m. at the Hilliard Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne.
~Dons~
<-->
