'Dons Take to Road for MIVA Battles

PREGAME NOTES

FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The IPFW men's volleyball team will take to the road on Wednesday and Friday to face off against the two teams that the Mastodons have faced more than any other in the program history, Ball State and Ohio State.

Opponent: Ball State Cardinals (8-1)
When: Wednesday, February 13, 2013 | 7:30 p.m.
Where: Muncie, Ind. | Worthen Arena (11,500)
Radio: GoMastodons.com | Mike Maahs, play-by-play
Live Stats: Ball State Live Stats
Streaming Video: Ball State All-Access

Opponent: #6 Ohio State Buckeyes
When: Friday, February 15, 2013 | 7 p.m.
Where: Columbus, Ohio | St. John Arena (13,276)
Radio: GoMastodons.com | Mike Maahs, play-by-play
Live Stats: Ohio State Live Stats
Streaming Video: Ohio State All-Access

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS

Ball State comes into the Wednesday meeting after falling for the first time in the 2013 season in a 3-2 loss at home against Grand Canyon, before returning the favor the next evening in a 3-0 Ball State win.

Greg Herceg leads the team with 125 kills, while Kevin Owens has 76. Dan Wichmann leads the team with 198 assists, as teammate Graham McIlvaine is close behind with 180 assists.

Herceg has a team-best 12 service aces, while Tommy Rouse has 93 digs for 2.91 per set. Owens and Matt Leske are neck-in-neck for the team lead in blocks with 49 and 46, each, as the per-set average for each is just over 1.40 per set.

SCOUTING THE BUCKEYES

The sixth-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes come into the Saturday evening game with losses only to No. 5 UCLA and No. 7 Penn State, before returning the favor at Penn State last weekend by a 3-0 score.

Leading the way for the Buckeyes has been Michael Henchy who has 127 kills, as Andrew Lutz has added 106, with Chen Levitan (78) and John Tholen (63) each sitting comfortably over 50 kills.

Peter Heinen has dished out 388 assists, as Henchy also leads the team with 11 aces. Brennan Anderson has 113 digs, while Grayson Overman has a team-best 41 blocks this season.

LAST TIME OUT

The IPFW Mastodons rebounded from a Friday night loss with a convincing 3-1 win over the Quincy Hawks by scores of 25-18, 17-25, 25-21, 25-15.

Eddie Rivera finished with a team-high 13 kills on 25 attempts, while Andy Sellan had 10 kills. Rob Samp knocked down seven kills, as Bryan Saunders had six kills on the game. Keegan Robbins dished out 38 assists while serving up a pair of aces, while freshman Luis Bertran had 10 digs.

The Mastodons (4-3, 1-1 MIVA) opened the match by scoring the first three points including a kill and a block from Saunders, and never trailed in the frame. Quincy cut the gap to to at 13-11, before IPFW ran off a 7-2 streak, pushing the advantage to seven, and cruised the rest of the way in the opener, winning the set 25-18.

Quincy jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first set, before the Mastodons ran off the next three points to lead 3-2. IPFW rallied to score two straight to take a 4-3 lead, as the advantage changed hands five times total, and there were eight tie scores, the last at 10-10. With the teams tied at 10, the Hawks scored the next five pointsto lead 15-11, and Quincy never trailed again in a 25-17 second-set win.

IPFW forged ahead to a 10-4 lead early in the third before the Hawks fought back, closing to within one at 19-18. Leading by the slimmest of margins, IPFW went on a 6-3 run to end the set for a 25-21 third-set win.

The Hawks scored the first point of the fourth set, before IPFW answered back with three straight and the 'Dons never trailed again. Quincy got to within four at 11-7, before the 'Dons ran off a 9-2 streak to lead by 11 at 20-11. Quincy fought back to within seven at 21-14, but the IPFW margin was too much to overcome in a 25-15 fourth-set win.

IPFW out-blocked Quincy 7-to-6, as three players - Rivera, Samp, and Ramon Burgos each had three block assists in the win. IPFW hit .273 in the match, on 48 kills, 18 errors, and 110 attempts.

TOUGH COMPETITON

Two MIVA opponents appear in the most recent AVCA Coaches Poll, with a third also receiving votes. In all, IPFW faces off against four teams currently in the top-15 of the Coaches Poll (Long Beach State/4th, Ohio State/t-6th, Penn State/9th, and Lewis/14th).

ALL-TIME SERIES

The upcoming week sees IPFW take on a pair of teams that are incredibly familiar with the Mastodons in Ball State and Ohio State.

IPFW has a 25-63 all-time record against Ball State, as the teams have been streaky in the all-time series. Ball State jumped out to a 32-2 lead in the series from 1981 until 1991; however, IPFW countered by winning 12 of the next 13 meetings. Lately the Cardinals have had their latest run in the series, with 10 straight wins until the Mastodons snapped that skid last season in Fort Wayne by a 3-1 score.

IPFW and Ohio State have met 98 times prior, the longest-running series that IPFW has in its record books, with the 100th all-time meeting between the teams coming on March 23 in Fort Wayne. In the current meeting, the Buckeyes lead the series 65-33. Ohio State jumped out to an 18-1 lead in the all-time series, while winning the last 10; however, holding a small 37-32 advantage in between.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

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