Mastodons Fall in Summit Tournament Championship

Saturday, November 20

Fargo, N.D.

8:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

21-11

North Dakota State

20-10

IPFW

North Dakota State

Maya Schlindwein had a match-high 21 kills while adding 15 digs in IPFW's loss to North Dakota State

Mastodons Fall in Summit Tournament Championship

11/20/2010 10:03:36 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Fargo, ND - In a rematch of the 2009 Summit League Tournament Championship, the IPFW Mastodons fell in the championship match of the 2010 League Tournament in five sets 20-25, 25-18, 25-22, 25-27, 15-10.

Maya Schlindwein had a match-high 21 kills for IPFW, as Taryn Parker and Stephanie Lamberti each added 13 in the loss. Alli Hook chipped in nine kills, while Tessa McGill had seven. Megan Steenhuysen dished out a career-high 57 assists, while digging up 13 Bison kill attempts for her 17th double-double of the year, tied for the sixth most in program history.

Tessa McGill had 31 digs, her fifth match of 30 or more digs this season, while Jen Milligan had a career-high 23 digs. Schlindwein and Lamberti chipped in with 15 and 14 digs, apiece, each adding a double-double. Schlindwein led the team with three blocks.

Schlindwein and Parker were each named to the All-Tournament team, joining South Dakota State's Ellyce Youngren, Southern Utah's Cashaana Renfro, and North Dakota State's Brooke VandenBergh, Lauren McLaughlin, and Chrissy Knuth, the latter of which was named the Tournament MVP.

The Mastodons jumped out quickly in the opening set, leading by four at 11-7. The IPFW advantage was cut to two at 14-12, but that would be as close as the Bison would come, as the 'Dons closed the set by scoring four of the final six points to claim the opener 25-20.

The second set saw nine ties and four lead changes, with the last tie score coming at 12-12 before the Bison pulled away in the frame, sending the teams into intermission tied at one set apiece with a 25-18 NDSU win.

IPFW scored the first five points of the third set, including a pair of service aces from Steenhuysen, and trailed just once in the frame at 11-10. Trailing for the first time in the set, IPFW rattled off four straight points to retake the lead at 14-11. NDSU got to within one at 21-20, but a 4-1 run to end the set put the Mastodons a set away from the win.

In the fourth set, North Dakota State led from the beginning, and looked to run away from the Mastodons, leading by five at 10-5 early in the frame. A 4-0 answer by IPFW cut the deficit to one as the margin never reached above two for either squad the rest of the way.

Tied at 17-17, NDSU scored two straight points to force the Mastodons into a timeout, after which the 'Dons regrouped and scored three straight to take its first lead of the set at 20-19. IPFW's lead grew to as many as two at 23-21, and as late as 24-22. The latest lead was countered by a kill from VandenBergh and a combo block from Megan Lambertson and Nicole Sheridan to tie the score at 24 all.

The teams traded points and were tied at 25 before a Lambertson solo block and a Brynn Joki kill sent the match into a fifth and deciding set

A Joki and Knuth combo block opened the fifth set, as the Bison did not trail in the frame. Behind a home crowd of 951, NDSU pulled away to win by five in the final set, 15-10.

Knuth, the tournament MVP, had a team-best 17 kills, while Joki and VandenBergh had 16 and 11, each. Lauren McLaughlin had a match-high 33 digs, while Lambertson had 13 blocks to go with seven kills. Jennifer Lopez, had 48 assists and 21 digs for the victors.

The loss caps a stellar 2010 season for the Mastodons in which the team won the regular season Summit League crown with a 21-11 overall record, and closes the door on the careers of the three seniors on the team, Schlindwein, Parker, and Lamberti.

~Dons~