Oct. 12, 2002
IOWA CITY, Iowa - A Purdue victory was not in the cards Saturday evening in Iowa City as the Iowa Hawkeyes (8-8, 2-4) topped the Boilermakers 3-1 with scores of 30-27, 27-30, 30-17 and 30-27.
Iowa, which tallied its first Big Ten victory of the season Friday night against Illinois, brought a little left over momentum into game one against Purdue taking an early 3-0 lead. That lead quickly faded into a 6-5 Boilermaker lead after a series including a Jen Bova (Jr., Milwaukee, WI) service ace and three Hawkeye errors. Purdue took the lead against at 7-6 and owned it until a knot-up at 10-10. A tie at 11-11 was a momentary pause in the Boilermaker lead which expanded to 15-12 behind three more Iowa errors. The momentum then shifted the other way as a 10-3 run gave the Hawkeyes a 22-18 lead. Eryn Leach (Jr., Saratoga, CA) kept the Boilermakers in the game with a kill and then two consecutive service aces, only the second and third of her Purdue career, to tie the game at 23-23. The teams knotted at 24, 25, 26 and 27 before Iowa closed it out at 30-27 on two Purdue errors and Renee Hill ace.
Game two saw Purdue pick up the early lead at 2-0 and extend it to four at 8-4 after three blocks, including two involving senior Tiffany Yoskey (Canal Fulton, OH). With the Boilermakers up five at 11-6, Iowa ran off five straight points to tie it at 11-11. The teams see-sawed back and forth for the next several points until Purdue reclaimed the lead and raised it to a three-point margin at 19-16, capitalizing on three straight Hawkeye miscues. Iowa answered with three points of its own to tie it up and continue the back-and-forth battle. Purdue took the lead at 23-22 and despite a tie at 25-25 went on to win the game 30-27, behind two more blocks and an ace by Kim McConaha. Purdue outblocked Iowa 6-4 in the game.
The third game was all Iowa save for a small Purdue comeback. The Hawkeyes kicked the game off with a 8-3 run, but the Boilermakers cut that lead to two on a Marie Franke (Fr., Ballwin, MO) kill and two Iowa errors. The home team then shot off a 6-2 run to extend the lead to 14-8. Purdue tallied two points to end that string, but Iowa scored nine straight to boast a 23-10 advantage. The Boilermakers chipped away at the Hawkeye lead but Iowa closed the door at 30-17. Iowa hit .205 to Purdue's .103 in the game.
Game four looked to be another Hawkeye landslide, but despite being down 7-3, the Boilermakers would not give up. Purdue scored three straight points including a kill and a block by Leach to make it 7-6 Iowa. UI increased the lead to three but Purdue finally caught up at 13 all on a McConaha service ace, one of two for her in the game. The teams knotted up several times throughout the rest of the game and the point span never reached more than three. Down 21-18, the Boilermakers nudged into a 21-21 tie on a McConaha ace, a Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) kill and a Hawkeye setting error. The teams traded kills leading to another tie at 27-27, mirroring the finishes of game one and two. Two Purdue hitting errors and a Kelli Chesnut service ace sealed the victory for Iowa and sent the Boilermakers home with a 9-9 overall record, 0-6 in the Big Ten.
Lowry led the Old Gold and Black with a double-double (15 kills, 14 digs), while McConaha tallied 13 kills and three aces in the effort. Franke posted a team-high 17 digs, while Leach notched a team-high four blocks for Purdue including one solo. Iowa, which outhit Purdue .198 to .088 for the match, was led by Kelli Chesnut (17 kills), Renee Hill (15 kills, 14 digs) and libero Pam Kavadas who boasted 20 digs in the match.
Purdue played with a tweaked starting lineup due to some nagging injuries, but ended up returning to normal late in the match. The Boilermakers will have a week to work out the kinks before facing Ohio State and Indiana in West Lafayette, Friday and Saturday.