APRIL 29, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: RUDY YOVICH, SID
260-481-6646

Volleydons Shock #1 Ramblers in MIVA Semi Finals

Chicago, IL- The IPFW men's volleyball team reached the finals of the MIVA tournament, on Friday night in Chicago, Illinois, with a 3-2 upset of tournament top seed and host Loyola-Chicago.

The Mastodons, who had lost two previous five-set matches with the Ramblers this season, won by the scores of 30-20, 28-30, 30-22, 26-30, and 15-12.

The previous two meetings saw the 9th team in the Nation stop IPFW by identical 15-11 scores in the fifth and deciding game, but tonight IPFW had the missing piece of the puzzle. It came in the form of freshman outside hitter Brock Ullrich, who registered the first double-double of his short career.

Ullrich complimented the 1-2 punch of senior opposite Matt Zbyszewski and junior middle Serdar Sikca perfectly. Ullrich registered 11 kills and 11 digs, and served the 'Dons to three straight points at the end of game five.

Zbyszewski, who is looking to become a two-time NCAA First-Team All-America, was again outstanding with 25 kills, 16 digs, four services aces, and three block assists, for a match-high 30.5 points.

Sikca added 12 kills, and paced the Mastodons defensive effort with a solo block and seven block assists.

The Ramblers, who lost for only the third time this season (26-3) had four players in double digit kills, with defending MIVA player of the week Chris Kozlarek leading the way with 22 kills.

IPFW will face the tournaments #2 seed, and 10th ranked team in the country, Ohio State in the MIVA Championship, Saturday afternoon. The Buckeyes made it to the final with a tough five set win over #3 Ball State (30-25, 26-30, 30-22, 19-30, 15-10).

Mark Greaves led the Buckeyes' offensive attack with 18 kills, adding in a match-high 3 service aces and contributing 3 block assists. Andy Cole recorded 15 kills while Mike Wauligman pounded out 10 kills and recorded 5 digs.

This will be the third meeting for OSU and IPFW. Similar to Loyola, Ohio State holds a 2-0 advantage, beating the 'Dons 3-0 in Columbus, Ohio on March 4th, and coming back from two games, and match-point down, to top IPFW 3-2 on April 16th at the Gates Center.

For those of you who subscribe to CSTV, you can see the MIVA Finals, which begin at 5pm EST on Saturday (4/30). The winner of the IPFW/Ohio State match will travel to UCLA for the NCAA Championships.

~Dons~