Ft Wayne Times

Balanced Attack Leads Mastodons Past Oakland

Purdue Fort Wayne had four players reach double-digit kills in Friday (Nov. 11) night's 3-1 (23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 25-21) win over Oakland.

Madelyn Wurster (15), Sidney Schiller (12), Molly Mirabelli (11) and Maggie Castleman (11) were the leading attackers on Friday night, with Rachael Crucis (24), Schiller (12) and LonDynn Betts (12) leading the way from a digs perspective. Ramei Jackson finished with five blocks.

Oakland took the opening set thanks to an 8-2 run late. The 'Dons held off a pair of set points with a kill from Castleman and a block from Jackson and Wurster, but Oakland's best player Patti Cesarini got a kill to close the frame.

There were no significant runs in the second set, but the 'Dons never trailed. The best offensive stretch for the 'Dons saw Castleman, Jackson and Wurster get kills. The Mastodon offense was clicking after a rough first set, shooting up to .350 in the second set. This offense continued into the third when they hit .325. It was back-and-forth in the third set until the Mastodons went on a 4-0 run with kills from Mirabelli, Haffner and Castleman to go up five. Oakland closed it to within one, but the 'Dons had a 5-1 push to go up 24-19. Mirabelli capped off the set with a kill.

The fourth set was all Mastodons early, as they went up 11-2 behind Alexandra Traciak's service. She put a pair of aces down to give the Mastodons a comfortable lead to nurse the rest of the way. Despite a late 4-0 run from Oakland, the 'Dons got the final set to go their way.

The Mastodons improve to 9-19, 5-12 Horizon League while Oakland falls to 10-19, 6-11. With the loss, the Golden Grizzlies are eliminated from postseason contention. Purdue Fort Wayne will return to the Gates Sports Center on Saturday (Nov. 12) for a 6 p.m. first serve against Cleveland State. Prior to the match, the Mastodons will honor Wurster, Schiller, Traciak and Crucis for Senior Night. 

Original source can be found here.