Oct. 15, 1999
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue volleyball team was defeated by No. 1-ranked Penn State 15-1, 15-5, 15-4 before a school record crowd of 2,076. The Boilers fall to 10-6 (2-5 Big Ten), while Penn State improves to 17-1 (6-0 Big Ten) with its 17th-straight win.
Purdue's offensive game suffered throughout the match. Penn State held the Boilers to a .054 hitting percentage, while recording an impressive .491hitting percentage of its own. The teams were further separated by mistakes, with Purdue committing 25 attack errors to the Lady Lions' one. Penn State registered nine aces to dominate the service game.
First-year Purdue head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer took the night as a learning experience his team can grow from.
"We have to start focusing on making a good play instead of a great one each time," Hulsmeyer said. "We will use tonight as a learning experience and work on our fundamentals. We must lower our number of service and reception errors."
Penn State dominated Game 1 getting off to a quick start by taking a commanding 7-0 lead. Purdue junior Julie Doud slid in one kill for the Boilers, but in the end Penn State went on an 8-0 run, taking the game 15-1, with no errors, and held Purdue to a -.138 percent hitting percentage.
Purdue started off much better in Game 2, jumping out to a 5-1 lead behind kills by senior Aneska Arosarena (two), senior Sarah Emke, Doud and an ace by sophomore Meagan Petersen. But the Boilers could not keep Penn State down for long, as the Lady Lions stormed back with 15 unanswered points to win 15-5.
Purdue led at the start of Game 3, as well, after a service ace by Doud put the Boilers up 1-0. But the lead as short-lived, as Penn State went on a 15-3 run to close out the game and match
Arosarena once again led the Boilers with 13 kills. Doud was good for eight and Emke offered six. Junior Christi Kelsey led the Boiler defense with seven digs. Purdue now looks forward to snapping its three-match losing streak when it hosts Ohio State tomorrow night at 7 p.m., in the IAF.
"Ohio State has a strong defensive team and we may be in for a long night," Hulsmeyer said. "If we get back to the basic fundamentals, we will have a better chance."
The Boilers will take on the Buckeyes tomorrow at 7 p.m. in West Lafayette at the IAF. The match will be broadcast live on WAZY (1410 AM) and at www.purduesports.com.