Sept. 18, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Nine years. That's how long it's been since the Purdue volleyball team won six consecutive matches in the same season.
But time and history were of no concern to the Old Gold and Black today, as Purdue won its seventh and eight matches of the season, capped by a 15-5, 15-8, 15-4 victory over Arkansas-Little Rock, and claimed the Boilermaker Invitational title before a crowd of 1,100 in the IAF. Purdue, which defeated Siena 15-5, 15-9, 15-9 in the day's first match, improved to 8-1, while Arkansas-Little Rock dropped to 3-7. This was the Boilermakers' second straight tournament victory, after having won the Northern Arizona Fiesta Bowl Tournament in Flagstaff, Ariz., last weekend.
"This is a tremendous confidence boost for us," first-year Purdue head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "Winning the last two tournaments shows how quickly this team has come together. I am pleased with how we improved in every match this tournament, and that's always something you like to see."
Senior setter Taryn Catlin was a major reason for the Boilermakers? success this weekend. The engineer of Purdue's offense, Catlin earned Most Valuable Player honors after totaling 124 assists in three matches. Catlin, who ranks fourth on Purdue's all-time assists list, also totaled 19 digs for the Boilermakers through nine games played.
?It?s a nice honor, but I am more happy with how we are playing as a unit right now,? Catlin said. ?Tonight was the first time this season we played a complete match. Now that we?ve experienced how that feels, I think we will do it more often.?
Catlin?s classmates, Aneska Arosarena and Sarah Emke, along with junior Julie Doud, were named to the all-tournament team, along with McNeese State?s Lisa Lombardo and Anissa Parker and Arkansas-Little Rock?s Tanja Radovic. Arosarena tallied 69 kills and 33 digs, while Emke added 37 kills and Doud contributed 46.
It was Arosarena and Emke who led the Boilers against the Trojans. Both hit for 11 kills, with Emke connecting on 53.3 percent of her attacks. Arosarena registered 10 digs to share the team lead with sophomore Maegan Petersen, who notched a career-high.
Arkansas-Little Rock, which had no player reach double figures in any statistical category with the exception of assists, was led by Radovic's nine kills and nine digs.
Judging by those numbers, it is no mystery how Purdue was able to manhandle Arkansas-Little Rock. To make things even more unbalanced, Purdue hit at a .386 clip for the match, while limiting the Trojans to an anemic .096. The Boilers recorded 32 digs to the Trojans' 22, and eight team blocks to the Trojans' two.
A solid start helped the Boilers on their way, as good passing reaped good hitting in Game 1. Despite toying with the Trojans at the start of the contest, sharing ties at 3, 4 and 5, Purdue was able to get in it gear a third of the way in. A block by Sarah Emke put the Boilers up 6-5, and they went on to dominate the rest of the way, scoring nine unanswered points down the stretch for the 15-5 victory.
The score was knotted at 4-all in Game 2 before Purdue quickened the pace and broke out to a 7-4 lead. A monstrous block by Emke and Maegan Petersen put the Boilers ahead 9-5, and an ace by Petersen pushed the Purdue edge to six. Unfortunately for the Trojans, they would get no closer, as a kill by Julie Doud sealed the 15-8 victory for the Boilermakers.
Purdue raced out to a 5-0 lead in the formality that was Game 3. And the Boilers just kept rolling from there, building a 9-1 advantage before the Trojans spent their second and final timeout. Eight points was as close as Arkansas-Little Rock could get, though, and an ace by Petersen put the nail in the coffin for Purdue's 15-4 win.
This was Purdue?s final non-conference match of the 1999 season. The Boilermakers begin their Big Ten slate next weekend with matches at Iowa on Sept. 24 and at Minnesota on Sept. 25.
"It?s a whole new ballgame," Hulsmeyer said of moving into conference play. "We are anxious to see how competitive we'll be in the Big Ten. We're looking forward to getting into it."
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