Purdue Fort Wayne
Ohio State
No. 15 Fort Wayne Welcomes Ohio State and McKendree This Weekend
4/5/2018 12:48:00 PM | Men's Volleyball
GAMEDAY INFORMATION VS. OHIO STATE
WHEN: Friday, April 6 | 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court
LIVE STATS: gomastodons.com/stats
LIVE VIDEO: gomastodons.com/watch
LIVE AUDIO: gomastodons.com/listen
Play-by-Play: Mike Maahs
SERIES HISTORY: Ohio State leads 74-37
LAST MEETING: No. 14 Fort Wayne 0, No. 5 Ohio State 3 (25-23, 25-19, 25-14) | Feb. 10, 2018 | Columbus, Ohio
GAMEDAY INFORMATION VS. MCKENDREE
WHEN: Saturday, April 7 | 7 p.m.
WHERE: Fort Wayne, Ind. | Arnie Ball Court
LIVE STATS: gomastodons.com/stats
LIVE VIDEO: gomastodons.com/watch
LIVE AUDIO: gomastodons.com/listen
Play-by-Play: Dan Watson
SERIES HISTORY: Fort Wayne leads 4-3
LAST MEETING: No. 14 Fort Wayne 3, McKendree 2 (28-30, 22-25, 25-21, 25-23, 15-13) | Feb. 7, 2018 | Lebanon, Ill.
SCOUTING FORT WAYNE
Fort Wayne (17-9, 5-7 MIVA) is ranked No. 15 in the most recent AVCA Top 15 Coaches Poll. The Mastodons are led by Pelegrin Vargas, who leads the MIVA in kills per set and total kills. Michael Keegan is pacing the way with 800 assists on the year.
SCOUTING OHIO STATE
Ohio State comes to Fort Wayne with a 19-4, 10-2 MIVA record, and currently hold the top spot in the conference. The Buckeyes are led by two-time defending national player of the year Nicolas Szerszen, who is hitting .392 on the left side with 3.69 kills per set.
SCOUTING McKENDREE
McKendree comes to Fort Wayne after a match with Ball State, but heads into the weekend 11-12 (6-6 MIVA). Fort Wayne took the first matchup with McKendree in five sets, coming back from down two sets. The Bearcats are led by Brendan Schmidt, a middle blocker that is hitting .448 on the year, and leads the team in blocks with 87. McKendree has never won on Arnie Ball Court.
HONORING THE LONE SENIOR
Jack Carlson is the lone Mastodon that will be honored for Fort Wayne's senior night against McKendree. After transferring from Saint Francis, Carlson spent two years playing for the Mastodons in 35 matches. He accumulated 137 digs and 33 assists while playing for the 'Dons.
TOMAS IS ON FIRE
Tomas Gago combined for 18 kills against Quincy and Lindenwood, while hitting .818 between the two matches. In the match against Quincy, he hit 9-0-10, tying the third-highest hitting percentage in the NCAA this season when having at least 10 attempts.
MOVING UP THE RANKINGS
Michael Keegan has 2,535 career assists, putting him in seventh place all-time. He needs 154 to pass Colin Lundeen and move into sixth.
MIVA LEADER
Pelegrin Vargas currently leads the MIVA in kills per set with 3.81. He has a 0.10 kills per set lead over Ryan Coenen of Lewis.
DOUBLE TROUBLE
Michael Keegan has eight double-doubles on the season after a 24 assist/13 dig performance at No. 10 Lewis. His eight double-doubles ties him for the most in a single season in the rally scoring era. C.J. Macias had eight in 2006. Keegan pushed his career double-double total to 16, with 12 of them coming on the road.
CAREER NIGHT
Sophomore Pelegrin Vargas set a new career-high in kills over the weekend, with 25 kills against Lindenwood. He averaged 6.25 kills per set while hitting .676, and he only had two errors.
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.
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 UCI despite being out-blocked 22.5-7. This was Fort Wayne's 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.
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 back in the rankings for the first time since April 20, 2015, which was also at No. 15. In the most recent poll, the Mastodons were ranked 15th.
LAST TIME OUT
Fort Wayne took a 3-0 victory over Quincy and a 3-1 victory over Lindenwood. The 'Dons hit .395 and .385 in those respective matches.
NEXT TIME UP
Fort Wayne will travel for its first match in the MIVA Tournament. Depending on the results from the weekend, the 'Dons will play at McKendree, Ball State or Lewis.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
