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Purdue Fort Wayne
St. Francis (Pa.)
Kook and 'Dons Take Thriller From Red Flash
2/19/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
Feb. 19, 2010
Loretto, PA - Senior middle blocker Oliver Kook converted 17 kills on 23 attacks, leading the IPFW Mastodons to a thrilling, five-set victory over the Saint Francis (Pa.) Red Flash, 27-30, 30-26, 26-30, 30-23, 21-19.
The Red Flash stole away a hard-fought first set that was neck and neck all the way through. With a tie score as late as 26-26, the Red Flash stormed ahead, taking four of the next five points to seal the opening stanza victory, 30-27.
The second set was a different story. The 'Dons built an early 12-9 lead and continued to stretch it, consistently carrying a four-point advantage deep into the match. Eventually growing to as many as six at 28-22, Oliver Kook slammed the door with a kill from setter Dan Mader to take the second set, 30-26.
In the second frame, Kook was a perfect 6-for-6 on attacks, as the 'Dons hit an amazing .536 as a team.
IPFW's hot hand cooled off in the third. A Mastodon attack error pushed the Red Flash lead to six at 15-9 and never looked back. A brief IPFW run cut the lead to one at 22-21, but a steady offensive attack and three straight errors doomed the 'Dons' chances as Saint Francis took set three, 30-26.
In stark contrast to the second stanza, IPFW hit just .100 (14 kills on 40 attacks, 10 errors) in the third.
As had been the story throughout the match, the momentum would again swing, as the IPFW offense worked out of their daze. Freshman Elon Fyfield, who totaled a team best 18 kills in the match, helped gather a slow lead that built to as many as four at 21-17.
Slumping, and tied at 22, the 'Dons came out of a well-placed timeout in a groove. Five straight IPFW points, including a pair of service aces from Dan Mader pushed the 'Dons to a commanding 27-22 lead before Corey Frain sealed the fourth set in favor of the 'Dons, 30-23.
In the fifth and final set, the Red Flash scored the first point and didn't surrender the lead until 30 more serves into the set.
Facing a match point at 14-12, Darryl Shank landed a kill, the Red Flash were whistled for a bad set and Shank followed with another laser to take a 15-14 lead. Saint Francis failed to capitalize on two more match points until the Oliver Kook's kill found the floor, knotting the score at 19 in bonus volleyball.
With the crowd on their feet and the match at stake, the 'Dons forced two attack errors and wrapped up a wild, rollercoaster match with a 21-19 fifth-set victory for the win.
Fyfield and Shank led the squad in kills with 17, while carrying attack percentage better than .300. Kook finished his impressive evening with 17 kills on just 23 attacks for an IPFW season-high .696 attack percentage.
Dan Mader set a pair of new career-highs with 63 assists and five service aces.
The win moves the 'Dons to 6-5 overall. They will travel to State College, Pa. tomorrow for a 7 p.m. matchup with No. 9 Penn State.
~Dons~
