IPFW Ends Regular Season with 3-2 Loss at IUPUI

Saturday, November 10

Indianapolis, Ind.

5 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

12-423-6; SL

IUPUI

13-321-9; SL

IPFW

IUPUI

Photo by: Lucas Carter

IPFW Ends Regular Season with 3-2 Loss at IUPUI

11/10/2012 7:47:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – It took all five sets to declare a regular season champion, but in the end it was IUPUI earning the honor as they defeated the Mastodons 3-2 in the Jungle on Saturday afternoon (25-19, 18-25, 17-25, 25-16, 16-14).

With the victory IUPUI (13-3 SL, 21-9) wins the Summit League regular season title and the No. 1 seed at the 2012 Summit League Tournament. The Mastodons (12-4 SL, 23-6) will travel to Fargo, N.D. as the two-seed.

Tessa McGill made IPFW history by becoming the school record holder for most career digs. She recorded 28 against IUPUI giving her 2,257 in her career. She passed Peachy Jankowski who previously held the record with 2,253 career digs. McGill also moved into second all-time for most digs in a single season. She has a season total of 688 which trails only Jankowski who recorded 742 during the 2006 season.

Emily Spencer played great for IPFW in a losing effort as she recorded a match-high 26 kills, hitting at a .308 clip. She recorded her 18th double-double of the season by also adding 14 digs.

Middle hitters Hailie Ripley and Jessie Manwaring reached double figure kill totals against IUPUI. Ripley recorded 16 kills and eight blocks while Manwaring added 10 kills and four blocks. Megan Steenhuysen set up the Mastodons with a match-high 55 assists.

IUPUI had four players reach 10 kills or more. Kaitlyn Hickey led the way with 21 and Moriah Fair chipped in with 14. Alexis Meeks and Ellyn Jones set up the IUPUI offensive attack with 21 and 27 assists respectively. The team's dig leader was Beth Howard with 24.

IPFW got off to a great start in the opening set. Emily Spencer recorded the first kill of the match and the 'Dons went on to open up a 5-1 lead early in the contest. The Jaguars capitalized on some IPFW errors and quickly came back to tie the game at 6-6. IUPUI took their first lead of the game at 9-8 and they never trailed again as the Jags went on to win the opening set 25-19. A four-point run from IUPUI completely changed the set as a slim 15-13 advantage blossomed into a 19-13 lead. Moriah Fair ended the set with four kills against IPFW which included the game-winner.

A six-point run from IPFW was the difference in the second set. The Jaguars broke a 6-6 tie and held the lead until a Spencer kill tied the game again at 16-16. Spencer and Hailie Ripley helped IPFW erase a deficit taking the score from 14-16 to 20-16. IUPUI never recovered from the streak as the Mastodons tied the match with a 25-18 win.

IPFW put together an impressive performance in the third set, defeating IUPUI 25-17. A five-point run sparked by Emily Spencer gave IPFW a 22-14 advantage. IPFW never trailed IUPUI in the third set as a rare kill from Megan Steenhuysen gave the Mastodons an early lead. The momentum however would not carry into the fourth set at IUPUI jumped out to a 12-4 lead. They went on to win the set 25-16.

The fifth and final set was the deciding factor on Saturday afternoon for the 2012 Summit League regular season championship. IPFW jumped out to a 2-0 lead after an Emily Spencer kill, but the Jags responded by scoring two straight points of their own. The set was knotted up at 8-8 midway through the action and the 'Dons once again scored two straight which forced IUPUI to call a timeout. IPFW scored the first point out of the break, but IUPUI came back to tie the game at 11-11 after a service ace. The teams went back and forth and eventually came to a 14-14 tie with the championship on the line. Kaitlyn Hickey became the player of the game as it was her kill that broke the tie and she iced the game for IUPUI with the game-winner off an assist from Beth Howard.

The 2012 women's volleyball tournament schedule will be set after the match between Oakland and Western Illinois which takes place in Macomb, Ill. at 7 p.m. Make sure to check back at gomastodons.com to see who the Mastodons will face in the first round.

~ Feel the Rumble ~