Oct. 25, 2002
EAST LANSING, MI - The No. 25 Michigan State Spartans (13-6, 5-4) tallied 11 blocks against the Boilermakers en route to a three-game sweep, 30-23, 30-23, 30-19 Friday night.
The No. 25 Spartans jumped out to an early 5-1 lead in game one, but Purdue (9-12, 0-9) fought back and pulled within two at 6-4 on two Marie Franke (Fr., Ballwin, MO) kills. MSU extended the lead back to four but a Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) kill and a Spartan hitting error cut it back to two. With the game at 10-7, Michigan State went on a 10-3 run including three of Angela Morley's eight kills in the game. Lowry ended the Spartan scoring string with two kills in the next three rallies to cut the lead to 21-14. The teams traded points before a balanced Boilermaker effort brought a 3-0 run for the Gold and Black, cutting the lead to five at 23-18. The Spartans answered with a 3-0 run of its own including a Megan Wallin service ace. The Boilermakers battled, shrinking the lead to five again at 26-21 and 28-23 on three McConaha kills. MSU clinched game one 30-23 on a Morley kill and Purdue error.
Game two was a battle from the beginning as the teams knotted up four times in the opening minutes. Purdue took its first lead of the match at 5-4 on a block by Tiffany Yoskey (Sr., Canal Fulton, OH) and Renata Dargan (Fr., New Lenox, IL). The Boilermakers extended that lead to three on a Dargan service ace and an MSU error. The Spartans then made a run at Purdue outscoring the Gold and Black 4-1 to tie it up at nine all. McConaha regained the lead for the Boilermakers, but Kim Schram answered for Michigan State. After a tie at 11, Purdue fell into a momentary funk allowing the Spartans to go up 19-13 behind an ace and four Boilermaker errors. Purdue would not go down, however, tallying three straight points on two Lowry kills and an MSU error. At 21-18 Michigan State, the Spartans went on a 5-1 run. Purdue did not give up, down seven at 29-22, as an Eryn Leach (Jr., Saratoga, CA) kill stopped MSU's game point effort. However, a Jenny Rood kill gave Michigan State game two 30-23.
Michigan State started game three with a statement, again taking an early 6-2 lead on Purdue, after three Boilermaker errors and a Kyla Smith service ace. Kills by Lowry and Dargan pulled the game to within two at 6-4. A block by Lowry and Jen Bova (Jr., Wilwaukee, WI) pulled the Gold and Black to within one at 8-7. MSU, behind the arms of Wallin and Rood, then extended their lead by to six at 13-7. Kills by Yoskey and Franke broke the Spartan run and cut the lead to four at 13-9, but that is as close as the Boilermakers could get the rest of the match. Purdue made several runs including back-to-back kills by Lowry to make it 20-14. Michigan State tallied 18 kills and a .306 hitting percentage in game three, closing out the match 3-0 with a score of 30-19. Kim Schram, who was quiet much of the match, tallied five kills in game three.
Joanna Lowry led the Boilermakers with a 15-kill, 13 dig double-double, while sophomore libero Daren Poe (Martinsville, IN) tallied 14 digs to lead Purdue. The 15-kill effort for Lowry put her over the 1,000 kill mark for her career. She entered the evening with 994 kills to her credit. Angela Morley led the Spartans with 12 kills, seven blocks and an ace, while Marley Bellwood pulled up a career-high 14 digs.
Purdue will now travel to Ann Arbor for a 7 p.m. (Eastern) Saturday match with the Wolverines.