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Purdue Fort Wayne
Loyola Chicago
'Dons Trumped by Conference-Leading Loyola
3/27/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
March 27, 2010
Chicago, IL - Despite a strong second set showing by the IPFW Mastodons, the 12th ranked Loyola Ramblers maintained their unblemished conference mark, downing the 'Dons in four sets, 24-30, 30-27, 12-30, 24-30.
The first set opened in favor of the Ramblers as they jumped out to an early 6-2 lead. The early lead would grow to as many as seven at 13-6. With the score at 17-13, IPFW mounted an impressive six-point rally to take the lead at 19-17. Almost immediately, though, the Ramblers rebounded, ripping away the lead at 21-20 and taking nine of the next 13 points to take the first set victory, 30-24.
Senior middle hitter Oliver Kook paced the IPFW offense in the opening set with three kills and a pair of blocks.
Following the cue of their senior leader, IPFW opened the second set strong, taking an early 10-7 lead. The blue and white would hold that lead until deep into the set, when a brief hiccup turned the advantage back over to the Ramblers at 24-23.
A Loyola attack error and frontline stuff by Kook and Ivan Matos gave IPFW their final lead at 26-25 before closing out the second set victory with a kill by Kook.
Kook's hot hand continued in the second stanza, as he posted an impressive seven kills to go along with a service ace.
The third set, simply put, was all Loyola. The Ramblers and Mastodons fought neck-and-neck at the opening of the set, with the dust eventually settling on a 10-7 Rambler lead. From there, Loyola rattled off 20 of the next 25 points, cruising to a commanding 30-12 third set victory.
The Loyola confidence carried over into the fourth set as well. The Ramblers took their final lead at 13-12 and never looked back, holding the lead through the end of the set and match en route to a 30-24 victory in the third set.
As a team, the IPFW offense hit at just .111 overall in the match. Kook led the team with 13 kills, while Elon Fyfield and Darryl Shank followed with 12 and 11 kills, respectively. Shank also led the squad in digs with 15.
The loss drops IPFW to 9-12 overall on the year and 2-6 in MIVA action. The Ramblers remain undefeated in the conference and move to 16-3 overall.
IPFW returns to action Wednesday (Mar. 31) as they travel to in-conference foe Lewis. First serve is scheduled for 8 p.m. EDT against the Flyers.
~Dons~
