Oct. 11, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 6 Minnesota Golden Gophers (18-2, 5-0) tallied 18 attacking errors and nine service errors against Purdue (9-8, 0-5), but still managed to pull out the 3-0 sweep of the Boilermakers in Minneapolis, MN, Friday night. The Gophers took both games one and two by identical 30-21 scores, before finishing the match with a close 30-26 win.
The Boilermakers hung in with Minnesota in game one, keeping the game in reach all the way to a 22-21 Gopher lead. Purdue owned the lead at 6-5 and never allowed the lead to swing to within more than four points the Gophers' way tying the game three times including a knot up at 14 all. Down four at 19-15, the Boilermakers tallied three straight points on Minnesota errors and remained in the game after a few more Gopher errors to bring the score to 22-21 Minnesota. The Gophers put together an 8-0 run including a Jessica Byrnes service ace and two kills to close the game at 30-21 Minnesota. Purdue hit just .079 to the Gophers' .317 effort, although Minnesota tallied seven attacking errors and four service errors in the game.
Game two saw a different Gopher team as Minnesota took an early 4-2 lead. The Boilermakers tied it up at four and five before Minnesota went on a 6-1 run to extend the lead to 12-6. A Tiffany Yoskey (Sr., Canal Fulton, OH) ended the Gopher run, but Minnesota picked back up where it left off with a two-point run. At 16-10, the Boilermakers tallied three in a row of their own including a Kim McConaha (So., Centerville, IN) ace, one of five on the night for Purdue. The Gophers ran the lead back up to five but the Boilermakers answered with kills by Yoskey and Jen Bova (Jr., Milwaukee, WI) to cut the lead to three again. At 20-17, Minnesota pulled away behind three Cassie Busse kills to own a nine-point advantage at 29-20. A block by Yoskey and Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) prolonged the match, but a Boilermaker error gave Minnesota the 30-21 game-two win.
Despite being behind 2-0 in the match, the Boilermakers came out fighting in game three. Minnesota led 7-3, but the Old Gold and Black slimmed that margin to two capitalizing on Gopher errors and a McConaha ace. A back-and-forth battle ensued at the 11-8 mark. Minnesota extended the lead to four, but a 4-0 run by Purdue tied the game at 15 all, after a Yoskey ace and two more Gopher errors. The game stayed close throughout the remainder of the match with the Minnesota lead never edging above four and the Boilermakers forcing Gopher errors. Purdue tightened the game to 27-26 on a McConaha kill and another Minnesota error (their 18th of the match), but the Gophers finished the sweep with a 30-26 win after two Busse kills and a service ace by Erin Martin.
McConaha led Purdue with 12 kills, while Bova racked up 13 digs in the match. Erin Martin put down 19 kills on the Boilermakers while Cassie Busse picked up the double-double for the Gophers with 16 kills and 13 digs.
Purdue continues the road trip with a Saturday evening matchup in Iowa City, IA, against the Iowa Hawkeyes.