IPFW at Ball State in MIVA Quarterfinals

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FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The IPFW men's volleyball team will face the Ball State Cardinals in the opening round of the 2013 MIVA Men's Volleyball Tournament on Saturday night. The Cardinals will host the Mastodons in Worthen Arena at 7:30 p.m.

ABOUT IPFW
The Mastodons come into the Saturday evening MIVA Tournament quarterfinal with a 13-12 record, including a 3-0 win over No. 9 Lewis on Saturday evening, IPFW's third home win, and fourth overall, over a ranked team this season.

Against the Flyers, three players reached double-figure kills, led by Eddie Rivera's 15, while Andy Sellan knocked down 12, and Anthony Randolph 11. Rob Samp was a kill away from double figures with nine, as IPFW hit .478 in the match.

Leading the team this season has been Rivera, who has 320 kills, while Sellan has 249, Ramon Burgos 171, Randolph 160, and Bryan Saunders 135. Sophomore Omar Rivera paces the team with 911 assists, 10.24 per set, while also leading the team with 24 service aces, two more than teammate Eddie Rivera.

Defensively the team has been paced by freshman libero Luis Bertran who has 217 digs this season, an average of 2.65 per set, while Eddie Rivera has 174, Omar Rivera 129, and Andy Sellan 106. Burgos has a team-best 96 blocks, averaging 1.10 per set, with Saunders sitting with 56, Eddie Rivera 57, and Omar Rivera 53.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
The Ball State Cardinals have been on a hot string over the last month and a half, with the team's last loss coming on February 23 at Loyola, with the team's last home loss coming on February 13 against IPFW. Since the last loss, the Cardinals have reeled off a dozen wins in a row.

The last win, a four-set win over 11th ranked Loyola, the Cardinals were led by Jamion Hartley who had 16 kills, with Greg Herceg adding 10. Graham McIlvaine dished out 27 assists, while also leading the team with two service aces. Tommy Rouse picked up a dozen digs, while MIVA Defensive Player of the Week Kevin Owens totaled seven blocks in the four sets - three solo - while chipping in a pair of digs.

For the year, Herceg has a team-best 290 kills, while Jamion Hartley chipping in 203 and Kevin Owens 183. Two others - Shane Witmer and Matt Leske - have 139 and 131 kills, respectively. McIlvaine has dished out 662 assists this year, 9.88 per set, as Herceg also leads the team with 36 service aces.

Rouse has a team-best 251 digs this season, an average of 2.92 per set, with three others, McIlvaine (145), Witmer (140), and Herceg (110) with more than 100. Two players average over a block per set, led by Leske who has 120 for the year (1.40 per set), as Owens has 112 (1.29 per set).

ALL-TIME SERIES
IPFW has a 27-68 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 made it two in a row with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals on Feb. 13, but BSU took a 3-1 win over the 'Dons on March 21 to increase their lead.

LAST TIME OUT
Playing in their last game in the Gates Center this season, the IPFW Mastodons gave the fans everything they could ask for, hitting .478 for the match and leading nearly every phase of the match in a 3-0 (25-16, 29-27, 25-23) victory over ninth ranked Lewis on Saturday evening.

The win is the third time this season that a ranked opponent has come into the Gates Center and fallen, and the Mastodons are 4-4 against teams ranked inside of the top-15 this year. The win also guarantees at least a .500 record for the year.

The last time IPFW hit better than .478 in a match was on March 31, 2006, when the 'Dons hit .494 (46 kills, 8 errors, 77 attempts), also at home against Lewis.

IPFW was led by Eddie Rivera who had 15 kills and seven digs, while Andy Sellan has 12 kills, Anthony Randolph 11, and Rob Samp nine - the latter two playing in their final home games in a Mastodon uniform. Omar Rivera dished out 49 assists, while he and Randolph each had two service aces. Luis Bertran led the team with eight digs, while Ramon Burgos, Rob Samp, and Randolph each had three blocks.

The Mastodons never trailed in the first set, jumping out to a 3-1 lead and never looking back. Lewis cut the gap to two at 10-8, before IPFW scored four straight on kills by Ramon Burgos, Randolph, and Omar Rivera, before Sellan closed the run with a service ace, putting the 'Dons ahead 14-8. After Lewis closed the gap to four at 18-14, IPFW closed the match on a 7-2 run to win the opener 25-16.

With IPFW leading nearly wire-to-wire in the first, the second set was the complete opposite, as the frame saw four lead changes and 21 tie scores. The largest lead by either team in the set was two, as IPFW led 7-5 and Lewis as late as 21-19. With the Mastodons trailing by two, IPFW rallied with two straight points, and from there neither team would lead by more than one until the 'Dons put together a service ace by Rivera and a kill by Samp to close the door on the Flyers.

Lewis came out of the between-set break firing on all cylinders, racing out to a 5-1 lead, and led by four at 10-6 before IPFW took off on an 8-4 run to tie the score at 15. Trailing by one at 16-15, the Mastodons scored four straight to lead 18-16.

Leading by two at 21-19, and seemingly having all of the momentum in their favor, the Mastodons saw Lewis run off three straight points to take a one-point, 22-21 lead, forcing an IPFW timeout. From that point on, IPFW closed the door with a 4-1 push, including a match-ending kill by Eddie Rivera.

IPFW had 53 kills in the match against just 10 errors and 90 total attempts, while adding five service aces, 25 digs, and 7.5 blocks.

IPFW MIVA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
IPFW has an even 24-24 record all-time in the MIVA Tournament, with tournament wins coming in 2007, 2006, 1999, 1992, and 1991. The Mastodons have lost their last five matches in the MIVA Tournament, that coming after a three-year stretch in which the team went 8-1.

HEAVY HITTING
When IPFW closed the 2013 regular season by hitting .478 (53 kills, 10 errors, 90 attempts) against Lewis, it was the highest single-match total since the Mastodons had a hitting percentage of .494 (46 kills, 8 errors, 77 attempts) on March 31, 2006 178 matches ago - also against Lewis.

RIVERA NAMED FIRST TEAM ALL-MIVA
Eddie Rivera earned first team honors on Wednesday as the Midwestern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association released its all-conference selections. Rivera leads the team in kills with 320 on the year, an average of 3.27 kills per set. The junior has started in all 25 matches and has recorded a double figure kill total in 19 games. He is nationally ranked 25th in both kills per set and points per set (3.81).

Rivera is a well-rounded player that also leads the team in double-doubles with four. His first double-double performance of the year came at Ball State with 14 kills and 13 digs. His second double-double came that same weekend as he ended the game at Ohio State with 17 kills and 12 digs.

Playing on a big stage is no problem for Rivera who also recorded double-doubles against nationally ranked teams in Penn State and George Mason. He put down 15 kills and 10 digs vs. the Nittany Lions and then recorded 13 kills and 10 digs against the Patriots.

2013 MIVA TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
Friday, April 19: No. 2 Loyola vs. No. 7 Quincy - 8 p.m.
Saturday, April 20: No. 3 Ball State vs. No. 6 IPFW - 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, April 20: No. 4 Ohio State vs. No. 5 Grand Canyon - 7 p.m.
Wednesday, April 24: No. 1 Lewis vs. Winner of No.4/No.5 - 7 p.m.

~ Feel the Rumble ~

Purdue University Fort Wayne Athletics

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