Sept. 22, 2000
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Although Purdue fell 3-0 to No. 9 Minnesota Friday, the Boilermakers fought hard and showed tenacity throughout the match.
"I am very proud of our young ladies," Purdue head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "We opened the Big Ten season against the top team in the conference and we held our ground. We did some nice things and played well against Minnesota."
The Boilermakers scored four unanswered points to begin Game 1. The Golden Gophers managed to get in three kills and lessen the deficit to one. But a block assist by senior Melissa Risher and sophomore Tiffany Yoskey and a kill from freshman Joanna Lowry allowed the Boilermakers to extend their lead to 6-3. Minnesota proved why they are in the top ten of the nation, as they scored four unanswered points to take a 7-6 lead. The Golden Gophers then orchestrated an 8-2 run to take the game 15-8.
Purdue jumped headed into Game 2 with a 3-0 lead. Minnesota quickly answered with a 3-0 run of its own. Two errors from the Gophers, a kill from Yoskey and an ace from junior Maegan Petersen gave Purdue a four point advantage. It wasn't enough to hold off the Gophers, though. Minnesota scored four points to knot the score at 7-all. The Boilermakers got in four more kills, but Minnesota won 15-11.
The Old Gold and Black once again managed to start Game 3 on top with a 5-1 advantage. Minnesota rallied for the game and the match and went to end the night with 15-8.
Purdue fell to 8-4 (0-1 Big Ten), while Minnesota improved to 12-0 (1-0 Big Ten) on the season, off to its best start ever. Lowry and junior Jennie Williams paced Purdue with nine kills apiece.
The Boilermakers will face Iowa Saturday at 7 p.m. in Iowa City.
"The Hawkeyes are a good team with lots of experience," Hulsmeyer said. "They have a dynamic middle who moves around a lot. WE'll try and improve on some of the things we did tonight and attempt to split this weekend."