Sept. 9, 2000
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. - The Purdue volleyball team picked up a 15-13, 15-2, 15-12 win over Harvard in the New England Challenge on Saturday. The Boilermakers improve to 6-1 on the season, while Harvard falls to 0-2.
"We really wanted to focus on our consistency in this match," Purdue head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "Although we were a little up and down, but we clearly improved from our previous matches. We were much better on the block and our defense was solid."
Purdue recorded a season high 12 team blocks and junior Jennie Williams and freshman Eryn Leach led the team with six each. Senior Julie Doud led teams with 19 kills, hitting at a clip of .310 (19-6-42). Freshman setter Jen Bova recorded 32 assists for Purdue after stepping into the position in Game 1.
The Boilermakers overcame an 8-3 deficit in Game 1 to defeat Harvard with a close 15-13 win. But in Game 2, Purdue would cruise to an easy victory.
The Old Gold and Black scored 12 unanswered points to shock the Crimson. Purdue allowed two kills from Harvard before an ace from junior Maegan Peterson and kills from junior Jennie Williams and Doud gave Purdue the 15-2 win.
Purdue jumped out to a 7-3 lead to start the final game of the match. Harvard scored four unanswered points to knot the score 7-all. The Boilermakers got in three more points, taking a 10-7 advantage. The Crimson was not out of it yet, as they scored four points to take the slight 11-10 lead. Purdue was ready to end it all and went on a 5-1 run to take the game and the match.
The Boilermakers will play its final match at the New England Challenge at Boston College Saturday night at 7 p.m.