Mastodons Extend Winning Streak with 3-0 Sweep over Eastern Michigan

Friday, August 31

Chicago, Ill.

6 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

3-1

Eastern Michigan

4-1

Eastern Michigan

IPFW

Photo by: Lucas Carter

Mastodons Extend Winning Streak with 3-0 Sweep over Eastern Michigan

8/31/2012 7:43:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

Box Score

CHICAGO, Ill. – The IPFW women's volleyball team improved to 4-1 on Friday night by defeating Eastern Michigan 3-0 (25-17, 25-20, 25-21).

Kendall Wienkes, Emily Spencer, and Hailie Ripley all recorded double digit kill totals against Eastern Michigan. Wienkes led the team with 12, Spencer and Ripley each added 11. Seniors Jessie Manwaring and Haley Emenhiser impacted the game with eight and five kills respectively.

Megan Steenhuysen had another impressive performance ending the night with a match-high 42 assists. Fellow senior Tessa McGill also played well by recording 24 digs.

IPFW pulled away from Eastern Michigan midway through the first set to claim a 25-17 win. Hailie Ripley tied the game at 13-13 and then helped IPFW score six straight points pushing the lead to 19-13. EMU responded with a run, cutting the gap to 20-16 but the 'Dons jumped back into control by scoring four straight down the stretch giving them the eight point win. Ripley recorded five kills and two blocks during the opening set to go along with 14 assists from Megan Steenhuysen, which led the Mastodons to victory.

The second set was much like the first as the two teams battled back and forth early in the contest. Freshman Sarah Heckman broke a 14-14 tie with a kill off an assist from Steenhuysen. Jessie Manwaring also got into the action as her kill off an Erica Dryden assist pushed the score to 17-15. Back-to-back attack errors from the Eagles helped IPFW extend the lead to 19-16 and Emily Spencer sent two kills into the box score giving the Mastodons a 22-18 advantage. The 'Dons would hold on to win the second set 25-20. Kendall Wienkes played a large role in set two with six kills and a block.

The Mastodons got off to a slow start in the third set. Head Coach Kelley Hartley Hutton used a timeout with the team trailing 2-5 and the change of pace worked as the Mastodons scored the next two points of the game which helped them cut into the EMU lead. The first tie of the third set came early in the contest as a kill from Wienkes knotted the scoreboard at 7-7. Rachel Iaquaniello helped the Eagles score the next five points by recording two kills and a block. IPFW would fight back, cutting the lead to 14-15 and the game would remain close the rest of the way.

Wienkes came up huge during the third set with back-to-back kills that gave IPFW their first lead of the set 22-21. Eastern Michigan called a timeout, but the momentum stayed with the 'Dons as they increased their lead to 23-21. Consecutive attack errors from Eastern Michigan ended the match as the Mastodons improved to 4-1 overall with the 25-21 win.

The Mastodons will return to action with a pair of games tomorrow in the UIC Invitational. They face UIC at 1 p.m. and then will return to the court to face UT Arlington at 6 p.m.

~ Feel the Rumble ~