March 30, 2012

QUINCY, Ill. – A solid team effort on the offensive end, led by senior Ivan Matos' career-high 26 kills, the IPFW men's volleyball team took down Quincy 3-2, Friday evening in Quincy, Ill.

IPFW snaps a six-game skid with the road win, and moves to 11-12 this season (3-5 MIVA). The Mastodons extend their winning-streak over the Hawks to 19 games. Quincy drops to 17-10 (1-8 MIVA) with the loss.

In the first set, Ramon Burgos smashed two quick kills and Ivan Matos notched a point to bring the score to 8-8. On the next play, Quincy's Joe Ascher earned a kill to start a 5-0 Hawk run and put the home team in front 13-8, forcing Mastodon head coach Arnie Ball to call a timeout. Out of the break, back-to-back kills from Corey Frain halted the Quincy stretch, but only for a short time. Before IPFW could climb back into the frame, Quincy mustered three-straight points to take a seven-point lead at 17-10. Ascher and the Hawks maintained its attacking prowess and earned set point at 24-18, when John Pranger finished with a kill to give Quincy set one, 25-18.

Behind 1-0, IPFW responded nicely to open the second set, as Frain and Eddie Rivera managed a kill each to give the visitors a 6-1 advantage. The Mastodons kept the lead to 15-13 and increased it three after E. Rivera blasted another kill off an Adam Quinn set. Led by Pranger, Quincy rallied with a series of points off kills and 'Don errors to tie the score at 20-20. When the frame moved to 25-25, the Mastodon defense stepped up in a big way, forcing two late Hawk errors to hand the visitors the set, 28-26.

With the newly gained momentum, IPFW jumped out to an 8-4 advantage early in the third set after E. Rivera, Burgos and Ivan Matos all earned kills. The 'Dons held a two-point lead at 13-11, then carried it 17-13, as Matos and Anthony Randolph kept the offense rolling with a pair of kills, leading to a Quincy timeout. The break fueled the Hawks, though, as they came chipped away to tie the frame at 24-24. However, the Mastodons earned points on the following two plays to win the third frame narrowly, 26-24.

Looking to close out the match, the Mastodons fell behind quickly 8-3 in the fourth set, missing on early attack attempts to swing the momentum back to home team. Quincy built the lead to six at 15-9, then held it to 21-15. IPFW closed the gap to five at 23-17, but the late push wasn't enough, as a 'Don attack error on Quincy set point forced the match into a fifth set.

Two kills from Matos and four Hawk miscues put IPFW in front 6-1 to begin the fifth set. A Quincy timeout followed, but the 'Dons kept attacking to earn set point at 14-8. On the match's final play, Hawk Joe Ascher took the serve and placed it into the net, giving IPFW the 3-2 win.

Matos' 26 kills led the way for IPFW, while Burgos tallied 12 and E. Rivera 9. Quinn handled 49 assists and six digs. JW Kieckhefer totaled a game-high 17 digs.