Volleyball Rebounds with High-Altitude Win

Saturday, October 1

Cedar City, Utah

9:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

10-6 (4-2)

Southern Utah

4-13 (2-5)

IPFW

Southern Utah

Photo by: Lucas Carter

10/1/2011 10:55:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

CEDAR CITY, Utah - The IPFW Mastodons rebounded from its five-set loss to the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Thursday evening by toppling the Southern Utah Thunderbirds in four sets on Saturday afternoon (25-19, 17-25, 25-9, 25-19).

The game snapped a two-match home win streak in the series by Southern Utah, as the Mastodons win in its final trip to Cedar City, which has an altitude of nearly a mile above sea level, as the Thunderbirds are joining the Big Sky Conference next season.

The balanced offensive attack was led by a trio of players with 10 kills, as Alli Hook, Emily Spencer, and Jessie Manwaring each had 10 kills, with Megan Wiler and Haley Emenhiser narrowly missing the double-figure plateau with nine and seven kills, each. Megan Steenhuysen dished out a match-high 39 assists.

Tessa McGill led three players in double-figure digs with 20, while Jen Milligan had 12, and Kendall Wienkes 10. Spencer and Steenhuysen each missed a double-double by a single dig, as the pair had nine digs apiece. Manwaring had a match-high seven blocks, while Hook and Spencer each had five blocks. Four of Spencer's blocks were solo, which ties a single-match four-set freshman record in the process.

The first set was one of runs for each team, as there were eight total streaks of three or more points, with IPFW claiming five of the eight. The Thunderbirds led 14-11 following a 4-0 run by the hosts, before the Mastodon offense and defense kicked in, out-scoring SUU 12-3, cruising to the 25-19 opening-set win.

Where the first set was one of runs, the second set saw its first 19 points coming via sideout, with the first back-to-back points by the same team giving IPFW an 11-9 lead. The Mastodons led 12-11 before the Thunderbirds fought back, using a late 5-0 streak to even the match at one set apiece with a 25-17 second-set win.

SUU scored the first point of the third set, before IPFW scored four straight points, and used runs of 8-0 and 6-0 to run away with a 25-9 third-set win. The nine points allowed were the fewest for IPFW since November 5 of last season when the Mastodons held Western Illinois to just nine points in the third set of a sweep at the Gates Center.

The Thunderbirds came out in the fourth set and dominated, leading 8-3 and forcing the IPFW coaching staff into a timeout. The Mastodons came out of the huddle and ran off seven straight points to lead by two at 10-8. The 'Dons would not relinquish its lead for the rest of the match, scoring six of the last nine points to take the match with a 25-19 fourth-set score.

IPFW returns to action on Tuesday, October 4, when the team hosts the Eastern Michigan Eagles at the Gates Sports Center with first serve slated for 7:00 PM.

~Dons~