Saturday, March 17
Muncie, Ind.
7:30 PM
Purdue Fort Wayne
at
Ball State
Mastodons Head Down I-69 for Ball State Match
3/16/2018 10:57:00 AM | Men's Volleyball
FORT WAYNE, Ind. - No. 15 Fort Wayne travels to No. 11 Ball State on Saturday (March 17) for a ranked matchup in Worthen Arena.
Gameday Information at Ball State
WHEN: Saturday, March 17 | 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Muncie, Ind. | Worthen Arena
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/ballstate/mvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://mixlr.com/bsusportslink/
LIVE AUDIO: gomastodons.com/listen
Play-by-Play: Mike Maahs
SERIES HISTORY: Ball State leads 71-29
LAST MEETING: No. 15 Fort Wayne 2, No. 11 Ball State 3 (21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10) | Mar. 14, 2018 | Fort Wayne, Ind.
Scouting Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne is 15-6, 3-4 MIVA coming off a five-set loss to Ball State at home. The Mastodons have two top 15 wins this season, coming at No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 14 Concordia Irvine. The 'Dons are ranked No. 15 in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, and are led in kills per set by Pelegrin Vargas with 3.78. Defensively, Michael Keegan and Kolbie Knorr lead 2.18 and 2.01 digs per set respectively. Richie Diedrich leads with just under one block per set.
Scouting Ball State
Ball State is 12-9, 5-2 MIVA and is coming off a five-set win at Fort Wayne. They are ranked No. 11 in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, and are led by preseason All-MIVA selections Matt Walsh and Matt Szews, who combined for 27 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks and two aces in the first matchup with Fort Wayne.
Career Night
Sophomore Pelegrin Vargas matched his career-high 24 kills in the five-set loss to Ball State on March 14. This is the most kills in a MIVA match this season by any individual. His previous career-high was 22 in a five-set win at Quincy in 2017. That was the match prior to his last match of 2017 before falling to injury. Vargas also had a career-high 15 digs against the Cardinals, which surpassed his previous high of 11.
That Third Set Though...
Fort Wayne hit .708 in the third set against Ball State on Wednesday (March 15), which is the highest single-set clip since January 4, 2014, when the Mastodons hit .739 in the third set of a four-set defeat of Cal Baptist. The 'Dons only had two errors on Wednesday, and tallied up 19 kills. Pelegrin Vargas had eight kills on nine swings, while Tony Price and Richie Diedrich were perfect with four and two kills respectively.
Price National and MIVA POTW
Behind a strong all-around performance in California, Fort Wayne native Tony Price was selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week and MIVA Offensive Player of the Week for March 13. Price had 3.09 kills per set in three matches, including 15 in the three-set win over No. 14 Concordia Irvine. He had no errors on the Eagles home floor, leading to a .625 hitting clip. He also had 19 digs on the week, including nine at No. 3 UC Irvine. This is the fourth time this season that a Mastodon has been selected as a MIVA Player of the Week, and the first time since 2015 that a Fort Wayne player has been the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. Price is the eighth Mastodon to earn the national award, and it is the 11th time overall award for the Fort Wayne program.
On That UC Irvine Win...
Fort Wayne defeated No. 3 UC Irvine on Wednesday, March 7, which was the first top-five win for the program since 2007 when the Mastodons topped No. 1 Pepperdine in the national semifinal. It was the ninth top-five win in program history. The Mastodons topped the Anteaters despite being out-blocked 22.5-7. Irvine's 22.5 blocks was the most in a single match by any team this season. This was also the Mastodons' first win over a ranked team this season.
Attaining 600
With a 3-0 sweep over No. 14 Concordia Irvine, the Mastodons reached 600 program victories. Fort Wayne is the only program that began in 1980 or later that has eclipsed this threshold. The 500th win came in 2011 by way of a 3-0 win over Carthage.
There's Gonna Be So Much Winning
Fort Wayne has 10 more wins than last season, just 21 matches through the year. This is the most improved in the nation from the 2017 season to this season.
Double Trouble
Michael Keegan has six double-doubles on the season after a 48 assist/12 dig performance against Ball State at home. He pushed his career double-double total to 14, with 10 of them coming on the road.
AVCA Top 15 'Dons
Fort Wayne moved into the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll on January 29, coming in at No. 15. The Mastodons were ranked for the first time since April 20, 2015, which was also a spot at No. 15. In the most recent poll, the Mastodons were ranked 15th.
Bringing Out the Brooms
Eight of Fort Wayne's victories so far this season have been sweeps. The Mastodons only dropped one set in January in a 3-1 win over Harvard.
Last Time Out
Fort Wayne fell in five sets to No. 11 Ball State at home despite having career-highs in kills and digs from Pelegrin Vargas. Vargas and Michael Keegan both had double-doubles on the night.
Next Time Up
Fort Wayne will travel to Lewis and Loyola, which are both ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, for a pair of matches on March 22 and 24.
Gameday Information at Ball State
WHEN: Saturday, March 17 | 7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Muncie, Ind. | Worthen Arena
LIVE STATS: sidearmstats.com/ballstate/mvball/
LIVE VIDEO: http://mixlr.com/bsusportslink/
LIVE AUDIO: gomastodons.com/listen
Play-by-Play: Mike Maahs
SERIES HISTORY: Ball State leads 71-29
LAST MEETING: No. 15 Fort Wayne 2, No. 11 Ball State 3 (21-25, 25-22, 21-25, 25-22, 15-10) | Mar. 14, 2018 | Fort Wayne, Ind.
Scouting Fort Wayne
Fort Wayne is 15-6, 3-4 MIVA coming off a five-set loss to Ball State at home. The Mastodons have two top 15 wins this season, coming at No. 3 UC Irvine and No. 14 Concordia Irvine. The 'Dons are ranked No. 15 in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, and are led in kills per set by Pelegrin Vargas with 3.78. Defensively, Michael Keegan and Kolbie Knorr lead 2.18 and 2.01 digs per set respectively. Richie Diedrich leads with just under one block per set.
Scouting Ball State
Ball State is 12-9, 5-2 MIVA and is coming off a five-set win at Fort Wayne. They are ranked No. 11 in the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, and are led by preseason All-MIVA selections Matt Walsh and Matt Szews, who combined for 27 kills, 10 digs, 11 blocks and two aces in the first matchup with Fort Wayne.
Career Night
Sophomore Pelegrin Vargas matched his career-high 24 kills in the five-set loss to Ball State on March 14. This is the most kills in a MIVA match this season by any individual. His previous career-high was 22 in a five-set win at Quincy in 2017. That was the match prior to his last match of 2017 before falling to injury. Vargas also had a career-high 15 digs against the Cardinals, which surpassed his previous high of 11.
That Third Set Though...
Fort Wayne hit .708 in the third set against Ball State on Wednesday (March 15), which is the highest single-set clip since January 4, 2014, when the Mastodons hit .739 in the third set of a four-set defeat of Cal Baptist. The 'Dons only had two errors on Wednesday, and tallied up 19 kills. Pelegrin Vargas had eight kills on nine swings, while Tony Price and Richie Diedrich were perfect with four and two kills respectively.
Price National and MIVA POTW
Behind a strong all-around performance in California, Fort Wayne native Tony Price was selected as the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week and MIVA Offensive Player of the Week for March 13. Price had 3.09 kills per set in three matches, including 15 in the three-set win over No. 14 Concordia Irvine. He had no errors on the Eagles home floor, leading to a .625 hitting clip. He also had 19 digs on the week, including nine at No. 3 UC Irvine. This is the fourth time this season that a Mastodon has been selected as a MIVA Player of the Week, and the first time since 2015 that a Fort Wayne player has been the Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week. Price is the eighth Mastodon to earn the national award, and it is the 11th time overall award for the Fort Wayne program.
On That UC Irvine Win...
Fort Wayne defeated No. 3 UC Irvine on Wednesday, March 7, which was the first top-five win for the program since 2007 when the Mastodons topped No. 1 Pepperdine in the national semifinal. It was the ninth top-five win in program history. The Mastodons topped the Anteaters despite being out-blocked 22.5-7. Irvine's 22.5 blocks was the most in a single match by any team this season. This was also the Mastodons' first win over a ranked team this season.
Attaining 600
With a 3-0 sweep over No. 14 Concordia Irvine, the Mastodons reached 600 program victories. Fort Wayne is the only program that began in 1980 or later that has eclipsed this threshold. The 500th win came in 2011 by way of a 3-0 win over Carthage.
There's Gonna Be So Much Winning
Fort Wayne has 10 more wins than last season, just 21 matches through the year. This is the most improved in the nation from the 2017 season to this season.
Double Trouble
Michael Keegan has six double-doubles on the season after a 48 assist/12 dig performance against Ball State at home. He pushed his career double-double total to 14, with 10 of them coming on the road.
AVCA Top 15 'Dons
Fort Wayne moved into the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll on January 29, coming in at No. 15. The Mastodons were ranked for the first time since April 20, 2015, which was also a spot at No. 15. In the most recent poll, the Mastodons were ranked 15th.
Bringing Out the Brooms
Eight of Fort Wayne's victories so far this season have been sweeps. The Mastodons only dropped one set in January in a 3-1 win over Harvard.
Last Time Out
Fort Wayne fell in five sets to No. 11 Ball State at home despite having career-highs in kills and digs from Pelegrin Vargas. Vargas and Michael Keegan both had double-doubles on the night.
Next Time Up
Fort Wayne will travel to Lewis and Loyola, which are both ranked in the top 10 of the AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll, for a pair of matches on March 22 and 24.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
Players Mentioned
MB
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OH
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