‘Dons Down Jacks In Fort Wayne

FORT WAYNE, IN -- South Dakota State played well at IPFW, but the Mastodons played just a little bit better in a 3-0 sweep of the Jackrabbits on Friday at the Gates Sports Center in Fort Wayne, Ind., by the set scores of 26-24, 25-20 and 25-23.

"Overall, I liked the way our team competed tonight, but unfortunately we gave up too many runs to a veteran IPFW squad," head coach Phil McDaniel said. "We need to keep this intensity for upcoming matches, and couple that with a focus on digging a quality ball. I thought both Margit and Kelly did a good job of taking what the defense gave us, but we need to play in system more often to make our middles more of a threat."

The loss drops the Jackrabbits to 11-5 overall on the season and to 3-2 in Summit League play. The Mastodons improve to 14-3 overall and to 4-1 in league play.

Margit Hansing led the Jackrabbits with 10 kills in the loss, adding 12 digs for her fourth double-double of the season. Kelly Herrmann tied with Hansing for team-high honors with 12 digs to go with her eight kills. Kelli Fiegen finished with eight kills and with five total blocks, including one solo. Kaitlin Klingemann finished with nine kills and a match-high five block assists.

Kendall Wienkes led a trio of Mastodons with double figure kills with 15. Emily Spencer added 14 and Haley Emenhiser 10 kills in the win. Tessa McGill led the 'Dons with 20 digs.

Despite the close 26-24 final score in the first set, it only saw three ties and no lead changes. IPFW led for the entire set, minus ties at 3, 14 and 24 before the Mastodons scored the final two.

The runs that McDaniel spoke of started in the second set, when IPFW broke a 5-5 tie with a 9-2 run that ended with a 16-7 Mastodon lead. The Jacks would close the gap to just three points, but not until 23-20, and they would not get any closer.

The Jackrabbits led for much of the third set until another run by IPFW. Leading 20-17, the Mastodons rattled off a 5-0 run to go up 22-20 and never trailed again in the set.

SDSU returns to action on Saturday, when the Jacks travel to Rochester, Mich., to take on Oakland at 7 p.m. ET, 6 p.m. CT.

Courtesy:  South Dakota State University