Mastodons Fall in Butler Tournament

Friday, September 13

Indianapolis, Ind.

7 p.m.

Purdue Fort Wayne

6-4

Butler

9-1

IPFW

Butler

Photo by: Lucas Carter

9/13/2013 9:07:00 PM | Women's Volleyball

Box Score

BOX SCORE | BOX SCORE (.pdf) | BOX SCORE (.html)

INDIANAPOLIS - Despite 13 kills from junior Emily Spencer, the IPFW Mastodons fell to the Butler Bulldogs in each teams' second match of the 2013 Butler Invitational.

Spencer had 13 kills while Hailie Ripley added eight. Madison Spence dished out 25 assists, with Jen Milligan and Spencer digging up nine and eight kill attempts, each. Natasha Medic had a team-high three blocks, while Sarah Heckman and Ripley each had a pair.

IPFW (6-4) benefited from back-to-back errors from Butler (9-1); however, the 7-1 Bulldog run that followed put the hosts ahead by four at 7-3. IPFW tied the score at 10 following a combo block from Heckman and Spencer, but another Butler run, this one 6-1, put the Butler ahead once again. The Mastodons kept fighting, and closed the gap to two points at 22-20 after a Spencer kill, but three straight points for the hosts gave Butler the 25-20 first-set win.

Butler nearly led wire-to-wire in the first set, with the only blemish coming via a 2-2 tie early in the frame. After the score was tied, Butler used a 3-0 run, one of four runs of three or more points for the Bulldogs, as they cruised to a 25-13 middle-set win.

The IPFW fight would never leave the visitors, as they pushed ahead quickly in the third set, leading 6-5, before a 5-0 Butler run pushed the hosts ahead 10-6. The Mastodons clawed their way back to within three at 15-12, but the strong Butler squad fended off any IPFW attack, and claimed the 25-18 third-set win.

Butler was led by Belle Obert who had 11 kills, as the hosts hit .395 in the match. Morgan Peterson dished out 32 assists, while Brooke Ruffolo had 10 digs.

The Mastodons return to Hinkle Fieldhouse for the team's third and final match of the Butler Invitational, as the squad faces off against Illinois State in a 3 p.m. first serve.

~ Feel the Rumble ~