Comeback Falls Short in Tournament Opener

Friday, September 2

Des Moines, Iowa

8:00 PM

Purdue Fort Wayne

2-2

Drake

2-2

IPFW

Drake

Jessie Manwaring had a career-high 14 kills in IPFW's loss to Drake

9/2/2011 10:06:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE

Des Moines, IA - The IPFW Mastodons trailed two sets to one against tournament host Drake before forcing a fifth set, falling in five 16-25, 25-20, 25-15, 22-25, 15-11, despite 19 kills from freshman Emily Spencer, and a career-high 14 from Jessie Manwaring.

Kendall Wienkes finished a kill shy of her first double-figure kill effort as a collegian, while Megan Wiler knocked down a career-high seven kills. Junior setter Megan Steenhuysen dished out 51 assists, three off of her career-best, as Tessa McGill led four 'Dons in double-figure digs in the losing effort.

IPFW never trailed in the opening set, as the frame was tied just twice at 1-1, and 3-3. After the Bulldogs knotted the score at three, IPFW ran off four straight points, and eight of the next ten, to jump ahead by seven at 12- before cruising to the 25-16 opening-set win.

The Mastodons took out to an early lead in the second set, not trailing in the frame until Drake took a one-point, 14-13 lead halfway through the frame. IPFW re-took the lead, and the teams were tied at 18 apiece before the hosts ran off three straight points to lead 21-18. IPFW would only get as close as two the rest of the set as the Bulldogs evened the score at one set apiece heading into the break.

The third set was all Drake, as the hosts scored the first four points of the frame, with the Mastodons getting as close as one at 5-4, with the Bulldogs heading into the fourth set with a 2-1 advantage after the 25-15 set victory.

In a do-or-die fourth set for the Mastodons, IPFW battled early, using a 4-1 run to turn a 4-4 tie score into an 8-5 IPFW lead. The entire set from that point on was a back-and-forth battle, with the largest lead by either team standing at two until IPFW closed the door on the 25-22 set score.

IPFW led just once in the fifth and deciding set, at 3-2, before Drake opened a 6-1 run to lead by four at 8-4. The Mastodons fought back, closing the gap to as few as two at 12-10, but a 3-1 run to end the contest gave Drake the 15-11 fifth-set win, and the 3-2 contest victory.

Wienkes (14), Spencer (13), and Milligan (10) each finished with double-figure digs in the loss, while five players: Haley Emenhiser, Manwaring, Wiler, Spencer, and Alli Hook; had three blocks each in the losing effort.

Whitney Westrum led the hosts with 16 kills, while Erika Price had 23 digs, and Emily Heffernan six blocks.

The Mastodons return to action on Saturday, September 3, when the squad faces off against Milwaukee and Wyoming in the second and final day of the Drake Tournament.

~Dons~

NOTES: IPFW falls to 0-2 all-time against Drake, and 7-4 all-time against teams from the Missouri Valley Conference...Emily Spencer has now recorded double-figure kill matches in each of her first four games, the second longest streak to start a career in program history...Tessa McGill's 28 digs are tied for the 12th most in a five-set match in school history, and tied for fourth most by a junior in a five-set match...McGill ran her streak to 12 straight matches with double-figure digs, tied for the ninth longest such streak in program history...The double-double was Spencer's third of the season...McGill stands six digs shy of 1,000 for her career, with 994, and is on the verge of becoming the 14th member of the exclusive club...Jessie Manwaring's 14 kills are a new career-high...Kendall Wienkes' nine kills are a new career-high...Jen Milligan reached double-figure digs for the first match this season...