Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball coach Ryan Perot earned his 100th win as head coach of the Mastodons on Friday night (Jan. 5), as the Dons defeated Thomas More 3-0 (25-15, 25-15, 25). -16).
FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WFFT) – Purdue Fort Wayne men’s volleyball coach Ryan Perot earned his 100th win as head coach of the Mastodons on Friday night (Jan. 5), as the Dons beat Thomas More 3-0 (25-15, 25- 15, 25-16).
The Mastodons were on fire offensively, hitting .466 for the game. This mark is the team’s highest in a game since March 20, 2021. The Dons hit an impressive .762 in the second set, marking the first time since March 3, 2019 that the Dons hit over .700 in a frame. Andrej Polomak has been a big reason for the Dons’ success, with the Serbian providing 31 assists in his first appearance for the team.
On the first point of the match, it took an eight-second serve violation for the Dons to stand up against the racial injustice that plagues our world today. This is the fourth straight season that the Mastodons have started their first game of the year with a moment of silence.
John Diedrich started the season with a team-leading 14 kills on 21 swings for a .571 clip. Mark Frazier recorded eight kills and Peter Socziwka added six kills in his collegiate debut.
The Mastodons jumped out to a 10-5 lead as Diedrich and Axel Melendez Watts provided much of the offense early. Caden Fosdick got his first block kill to extend the ‘Dons’ lead to 15-7, as did Polomack when he made it 20-13 to help his team win the first set.
Frazier led the Dons in the second set with six kills while Diedrich had five. After staying even early, the Mastodons pulled away on a 12-5 run that helped them win their second straight set.
Back-to-back kills from Ketcher helped Stewart start the third set and his collegiate career on the right foot. The Dons took the first four points of the group and never trailed. Casey Lyons had his first collegiate kill to give Purdue Fort Wayne a 15-9 lead in the third set. The Dons finished the game with a complete 5-2 run with help from freshman Andrew Meyer.
Purdue Fort Wayne outscored Thomas More .466 to .133. The Mastodons held the Saints to a .000 hitting percentage in the first frame. The Dons served exceptionally well with a total of nine aces. Diedrich led the team with three while Soczewka had two while Polomak, Davey Singer, Kitcher Stewart and Bryce Walker each had one.
The Mastodons move to 1-0 while Thomas More drops to 1-2. Purdue Fort Wayne is scheduled to host North Greenville tomorrow night (Saturday, January 6) at 7pm at Arnie Ball Court.
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