Oct. 2, 2002
Champaign, IL- The Boilermaker volleyball team put up a valiant effort against Illinois (8-4, 2-1), but could not pull out the victory, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Illini. Purdue falls to 9-6 on the season, 0-3 in the Big Ten, with the 30-27, 26-30, 27-30, 25-30 loss.
The Boilermakers came out of the gates ready to play in game one against the Illini, leading the entire way after a 2-2 tie. Purdue led by as many as eight in the game at 12-4 after a pair of Renata Dargan (Fr., New Lenox, IL) service aces. Despite a run by Illinois, the margin would not drop below three until the 19-17 mark. The Illini cut the lead to 19-18, but the Gold and Black would not give up the lead extending it to five at 26-21 behind three Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) kills. At 26-23, freshman Marie Franke (Ballwin, MO) chimed in a few kills to give the Boilermakers a 28-24 advantage. An Illini error set up a game-point attempt by Purdue, but it would take four tries to end the game at 30-27 in favor of Purdue.
Game two had a different look with Illinois dominating early, owning a 5-2 advantage, before Purdue knotted it up at six all. It was back and forth for the next several rallies with the Illini lead never moving above three. Then at 15-14, the Gold and Black took their first lead of game two on a Franke freeball-turned-kill. After a tie at 15-15, the Boilermakers owned the lead beginning at 16-15 extending it to three points twice before Illinois tied it up at 24 all. The teams would knot up again at 25-25, but Illinois finished the match at 30-26 on a 5-1 run including two Lisa Argabright kills.
The Illini owned a 4-2 lead in game three, but again saw the Boilermakers bounce back to take a 7-6 lead of their own. Illinois took back the lead at 8-7, but that was short lived as a knot up came at 9-9. The battle continued with the teams trading leads until the Illini went on a 5-1 run to take a 19-15 lead. Purdue answered with a 3-0 run to pull the game to 19-18, but the Illini capitalized on some Boilermaker errors to boost the margin to three. Between several ties, the Gold and Black took a 25-24 lead, but the Illini tied it up at 26 all before making a 5-1 run to end the game at 30-27.
The Boilermakers took a 2-0 lead in the crucial game four, but saw it fade into a 12-3 deficit after eight straight points by Illinois, six of which included Argabright in one form or another. A nine-kill effort by Lowry was not enough to help Purdue force a game five. The team cut the Illini lead to four at 14-10 on a block by McConaha and Lowry, but Illinois answered to extend the lead to 21-14. A few Illini errors and three Lowry kills helped Purdue cut the lead to three at 25-22 and then two at 26-24, but a 4-1 run ended the Boilermakers' chance for a win at 30-25.
The Illini hit .279 for the match, while Purdue registered a .276 percentage. The Boilermakers put down 73 kills to Illinois' 65, but the difference was in serving. Illinois boasted eight service aces to four by the Gold and Black. The Boilermakers also registered 15 service errors in the match. Lowry led all hitters with 25 kills, while also pulling up 13 digs in the effort and boasting a .415 hitting percentage for the match. Daren Poe (So., Martinsville, IN) led Purdue with 17 digs. Argabright tallied 19 kills in the match to go with seven blocks while libero Lauren Harks pulled up a match-high 22 digs. One positive for the Boilermakers was a career-high 17 kills by freshman Marie Franke.
Purdue will be back in action at 7 p.m. at the IAF when the team faces No. 9 Penn State.
"We can't afford to get down," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "There is nothing but up for us. If people expected us to win, it would be different. But we keep improving and everything we are doing is pushing us."