.png&width=32&height=32&type=webp)
Saturday, September 11
Lynchburg, Va.
10 AM
Purdue Fort Wayne
2-6,0-0Horizon
3
at
2
Liberty
4-2,0-0ASUN
1
2
3
4
5
F
Purdue Fort Wayne
25
24
10
25
15
3
Liberty
18
26
25
20
10
2
Team Stats
Pur-FW
Lib
Kills
56
55
Errors
30
24
Attempts
163
148
Hitting %
.160
.209
Points
70
71
Assists
51
53
Aces
10
7
Blocks
4
9
Game Leaders
Kills-Aces-Blocks
Kills
21
Aces
1
Blocks
1
Kills
16
Aces
0
Blocks
0
Kills
6
Aces
0
Blocks
2
Kills
4
Aces
5
Blocks
1
Players Mentioned
OH
/ Women's VolleyballOH
/ Women's Volleyball
L
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
S
/ Women's Volleyball
OH
/ Women's Volleyball
MB
/ Women's VolleyballMB
/ Women's Volleyball
Katie Crowe (L) and Rachael Crucis (R)
Photo by: Rachel Von Art
Mastodons Douse the Flames, Fall to the Monarchs on Saturday
9/11/2021 3:27:00 PM | Women's Volleyball
LYNCHBURG, Va. - The Purdue Fort Wayne women's volleyball team picked up a five-set win over Liberty in the morning match, but fell to Old Dominion 3-1 in the afternoon at the Liberty Invitational on Saturday (Sept. 11).
Steve Florio earned his 93rd win as head coach on his birthday. Katie Crowe was named to the Liberty Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Game 1: Purdue Fort Wayne 3, Liberty 2 (25-18, 24-26, 10-25, 25-20, 15-10)
In Purdue Fort Wayne's third five-set match of the season, the Mastodons got the win they were searching for. If the first dozen points were any indication, the Mastodons were going to throttle Liberty, but the Flames made it a marathon contest.
The 'Dons got nine straight points to open the match and ended up taking a 10-point lead at 12-2. Viviana Lefherz was the server responsible for the hot start, as she had a pair of aces and a kill. Molly Mirabelli had two kills from the middle in this stretch as well. This early lead held true, as the Mastodons led the first set wire-to-wire. Crowe was spectacular in the opening set, slamming down six kills on just seven swings. This included three kills after the 'Dons reached 20 points. Purdue Fort Wayne hit .308 while holding Liberty to an anemic .071.
Crowe's offensive firepower came in handy in the second set as well, as she notched seven more kills, but the Mastodons ultimately dropped the set. Liberty had an opportunity to take the set 25-22, but the 'Dons sent it to extra points thanks to a kill from Crowe. The third set was all Flames, as they rattled off a 7-0 and a 9-1 run to put away the set. Liberty hit .450 compared to the Mastodons' -.114.
The fourth set looked to be more of the same from Liberty when the Flames jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Three straight kills for the 'Dons (one from Maggie Castleman sandwiched by two from Crowe) seemed to right the ship though. The Mastodons chipped away at the lead until LU led 13-12. From that point on, the Mastodons went on a 7-1 stretch to lead 19-14. Crowe had two kills and an ace in this run. After a Mastodon timeout at 21-19, the 'Dons popped off four of the last five points of the set, which featured a pair of emphatic kills from Ramei Jackson.
Midway through the decisive fifth set, it looked as though the home team would escape with a victory. The Flames led 8-4 before Castleman got a kill to side-out. This brought freshman Claire Pape to the service line. With the poise of a senior, Pape drilled three straight aces into Liberty's side of the court to spur an 8-0 run, giving the Mastodons a 12-8 advantage. The Flames responded with two points, but the 'Dons had all the momentum as Castleman and Crowe got back-to-back kills. Jackson and Castleman combined to set up a block that forced the Liberty offense to swing into the net, giving the Mastodons their second straight win in true road matches. The 'Dons hit .300 while holding Liberty to .091 in the final set.
Crowe finished the match with 21 kills, which led the floor, while also digging out 10 attacks for a double-double. Castleman pitched in 16 kills, eight of which came in the last two sets. Rachael Crucis had 17 digs with six coming in the fourth set. Pape's five aces is the most by any Mastodon since Crowe had six against Youngstown State last spring.
Liberty falls to 4-2 despite out-hitting the Mastodons .209 to .160.
Game 2: Old Dominion 3, Purdue Fort Wayne 1 (14-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17)
In the afternoon match, the Mastodons started off by carrying over the energy that they had from the match that ended 30 minutes prior. They opened with a 10-4 lead that was capped off by another Crowe-Castleman kill sandwich. Pape dropped an ace before Lefherz solo-blocked the Monarchs to give the 'Dons a 14-9 advantage. Lefherz had two of her own aces later on to extend the lead to 19-11. Castleman finished off the set with a pair of kills to give her four in the opening frame.
Midway through the second set, Lefherz had another kill and ace before a kill from Jackson gave the 'Dons an 11-9 lead. ODU would chip away at this lead for a few more points, however, until taking the lead for good at 16-15. Nicole Jones had an ace that brought it within one at 20-19 to force an Old Dominion timeout, but this was as close as the 'Dons would get.
The Mastodons led for the majority of the third set, never trailing until the 22-21 mark. They led by as many as five when Crucis had an ace to go up 21-16. The Monarchs went on a 7-0 tear from there to take the lead that they would not yield for the rest of the set.
After a 9-9 stymie in the fourth, Old Dominion rattled off four in a row, which put the Mastodons behind for the remainder of the match.
Crowe finished with 15 kills, seven digs and an ace. Castleman had 13 kills and four digs. Crucis had 17 digs, which once again led the match. She also had four aces of the team's 14 aces.
With the split, the Mastodons move to 2-7. Old Dominion is now 4-6. Purdue Fort Wayne will return home for its only midweek non-league match of the season on Tuesday, September 14 when Toledo visits the Arnie Ball Court.
Steve Florio earned his 93rd win as head coach on his birthday. Katie Crowe was named to the Liberty Invitational All-Tournament Team.
Game 1: Purdue Fort Wayne 3, Liberty 2 (25-18, 24-26, 10-25, 25-20, 15-10)
In Purdue Fort Wayne's third five-set match of the season, the Mastodons got the win they were searching for. If the first dozen points were any indication, the Mastodons were going to throttle Liberty, but the Flames made it a marathon contest.
The 'Dons got nine straight points to open the match and ended up taking a 10-point lead at 12-2. Viviana Lefherz was the server responsible for the hot start, as she had a pair of aces and a kill. Molly Mirabelli had two kills from the middle in this stretch as well. This early lead held true, as the Mastodons led the first set wire-to-wire. Crowe was spectacular in the opening set, slamming down six kills on just seven swings. This included three kills after the 'Dons reached 20 points. Purdue Fort Wayne hit .308 while holding Liberty to an anemic .071.
Crowe's offensive firepower came in handy in the second set as well, as she notched seven more kills, but the Mastodons ultimately dropped the set. Liberty had an opportunity to take the set 25-22, but the 'Dons sent it to extra points thanks to a kill from Crowe. The third set was all Flames, as they rattled off a 7-0 and a 9-1 run to put away the set. Liberty hit .450 compared to the Mastodons' -.114.
The fourth set looked to be more of the same from Liberty when the Flames jumped out to a 7-1 lead. Three straight kills for the 'Dons (one from Maggie Castleman sandwiched by two from Crowe) seemed to right the ship though. The Mastodons chipped away at the lead until LU led 13-12. From that point on, the Mastodons went on a 7-1 stretch to lead 19-14. Crowe had two kills and an ace in this run. After a Mastodon timeout at 21-19, the 'Dons popped off four of the last five points of the set, which featured a pair of emphatic kills from Ramei Jackson.
Midway through the decisive fifth set, it looked as though the home team would escape with a victory. The Flames led 8-4 before Castleman got a kill to side-out. This brought freshman Claire Pape to the service line. With the poise of a senior, Pape drilled three straight aces into Liberty's side of the court to spur an 8-0 run, giving the Mastodons a 12-8 advantage. The Flames responded with two points, but the 'Dons had all the momentum as Castleman and Crowe got back-to-back kills. Jackson and Castleman combined to set up a block that forced the Liberty offense to swing into the net, giving the Mastodons their second straight win in true road matches. The 'Dons hit .300 while holding Liberty to .091 in the final set.
Crowe finished the match with 21 kills, which led the floor, while also digging out 10 attacks for a double-double. Castleman pitched in 16 kills, eight of which came in the last two sets. Rachael Crucis had 17 digs with six coming in the fourth set. Pape's five aces is the most by any Mastodon since Crowe had six against Youngstown State last spring.
Liberty falls to 4-2 despite out-hitting the Mastodons .209 to .160.
Game 2: Old Dominion 3, Purdue Fort Wayne 1 (14-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17)
In the afternoon match, the Mastodons started off by carrying over the energy that they had from the match that ended 30 minutes prior. They opened with a 10-4 lead that was capped off by another Crowe-Castleman kill sandwich. Pape dropped an ace before Lefherz solo-blocked the Monarchs to give the 'Dons a 14-9 advantage. Lefherz had two of her own aces later on to extend the lead to 19-11. Castleman finished off the set with a pair of kills to give her four in the opening frame.
Midway through the second set, Lefherz had another kill and ace before a kill from Jackson gave the 'Dons an 11-9 lead. ODU would chip away at this lead for a few more points, however, until taking the lead for good at 16-15. Nicole Jones had an ace that brought it within one at 20-19 to force an Old Dominion timeout, but this was as close as the 'Dons would get.
The Mastodons led for the majority of the third set, never trailing until the 22-21 mark. They led by as many as five when Crucis had an ace to go up 21-16. The Monarchs went on a 7-0 tear from there to take the lead that they would not yield for the rest of the set.
After a 9-9 stymie in the fourth, Old Dominion rattled off four in a row, which put the Mastodons behind for the remainder of the match.
Crowe finished with 15 kills, seven digs and an ace. Castleman had 13 kills and four digs. Crucis had 17 digs, which once again led the match. She also had four aces of the team's 14 aces.
With the split, the Mastodons move to 2-7. Old Dominion is now 4-6. Purdue Fort Wayne will return home for its only midweek non-league match of the season on Tuesday, September 14 when Toledo visits the Arnie Ball Court.
~ Feel the Rumble ~
Women's Volleyball Purdue Fort Wayne Invitational Trophy
Tuesday, September 24
Women’s volleyball content day BTS
Wednesday, August 28
2024 Mastodon Hall of Fame Ceremony
Tuesday, February 06
Match Point Scenes
Tuesday, October 24
