Purdue Fort Wayne
9-10, 2-2Summit
Western Illinois
7-11, 1-2Summit
Mastodons Rally for Victory in Five Set Thriller
10/5/2013 7:36:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.html)
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - After being out-scored 25-20, 25-21 in the first two sets, the IPFW Mastodons rallied after the between set break to sweep the next three sets, topping Summit League rival Western Illinois on Saturday evening at the Gates Sports Center.
Emily Spencer had her second straight 20-kill effort with 21 kills, while Kendall Wienkes had 16 kills, and Hailie Ripley nine. Madison Spence dished out a career-high 53 assists, while Jen Milligan had a team-best two service aces.
Este Stoffel led the defense with 12 digs, while three others: Spence, Wienkes, and Milligan had nine digs, with Emily Spencer chipping in eight. Ripley led the team with a match-high seven blocks, while Spence added six in the Mastodon win.
The first set opened as a tight back-and-forth battle, as the teams were tied at eight points apiece before the visiting Leathernecks (7-11, 1-2 Summit League) scored the next four points, and never trailed again in the frame. The Mastodons (9-10, 2-2 Summit) got to within one at 13-12, but could not overcome the deficit, falling 25-20 in the first frame.
Western Illinois jumped out to a 7-3 lead early in the first set, only to see the Mastodons fight back and knot the score at 14 apiece. After seeing their lead erased, the Leathernecks answered quickly 6-2 run, taking a 20-16 lead and never looking back in a 25-21 second-set win.
After the 10-minute break between sets two and three, the Mastodons came out firing, as the only lead the Leathernecks held all set was at 1-0. Leading by one at 13-12, the Mastodons added a gap in the score off of a 7-1 streak, taking to a 20-13 lead, and the team didn't look back in the 25-15 Mastodon win.
The fourth set saw a total of 12 ties and four lead changes - most for any set - as the teams clawed tooth and nail throughout the frame. The largest lead either team would get for the entirety of the set was three, including when IPFW led 10-7 before the visitors ran off an 8-3 run to force an IPFW timeout, trailing by one at 15-14.
The lead changed hands one more time when IPFW responded with a 6-2 run, leading 20-17; however, WIU fought back to the the score at 20, and trailed by one at 24-23 before Sarah Heckman pounded home a kill to force a deciding fifth set.
Trailing by one at 4-3, the Mastodons ran off three straight points, and never trailed again, using two separate 3-0 runs to push ahead to a 15-10 final-set win.
Samantha Fournier had a match-high 23 kills in the loss, while Ann Miller had 14 kills.
The Mastodons return to action on Tuesday, October 8, when the squad hosts the Rockets of Toledo in a 7 p.m. first serve at the Gates Sports Center.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
