Oct. 5, 2002
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermakers faced one of the best teams in the nation, No. 9 Penn State (14-1, 4-0), and dropped a 3-0 decision to the Nittany Lions. Penn State, which leads the nation in hitting percentage (.348), hit .356 on the night en route to taking the match 30-25, 30-21, 30-20.
Purdue (9-7, 0-4) jumped out to a good start in game one, leading 4-0 in the opening moments after kills by Marie Franke (Fr., Ballwin, MO) and Jen Bova (Jr., Milwaukee, WI) and two Penn State errors. The Boilermakers maintained the lead until ties at 8-8 and 9-9. The squad boosted the lead to three at 14-11 on a Bova free ball-turned-kill, but the Nittany Lions knotted it up at 14 all. A 5-1 run by Purdue pushed the lead to 19-15 in favor of the Old Gold and Black. Penn State answered with a 9-1 run of its own to claim its first lead of the game and shift the momentum into its own favor. The Boilermakers pulled to within three at 26-23, but Penn State closed it out at 30-25 on a Robyn Guokas kill, one of six for her in game one.
Game two had a decidedly different flavor as Penn State took a 5-0 lead to start the game. Despite several Boilermaker lunges, the point differential never dropped below four the rest of the game. At 13-9, the teams began trading points, but Purdue could not get a break in the action until a 4-0 run pulled the team to within four once again at 22-18, behind a solo block and a kill by Bova. The Nittany Lions ended the game at 30-21 with an 8-2 run which featured a Sam Tortorello service ace, one of five in the game for Penn State, as well as a pair of kills from Mishka Levy.
The Boilermakers made one last push to stay in the match, capitalizing on two Penn State errors and a Tiffany Yoskey (Sr., Canal Fulton, OH) service ace to give themselves a 3-1 lead. The Nittany Lions were up 6-4 when a 3-1 run by Purdue tied the game at seven all. A kill by Franke ended a 5-1 run by Penn State at 13-9. A series featuring an ace and a kill by Cara Smith, who owns the best hitting percentage in the nation (.518), extended the lead to eight at 20-12. A few Kim McConaha (So., Centerville, IN) and Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) kills and an ace by Lowry cut the lead to six at 22-16.A block and kill by Smith put the game away for Penn State at 30-20 despite efforts by Bova and McConaha to extend the game. The Nittany Lions hit an outstanding .452 in game three.
McConaha led the Boilermakers with 15 kills, five in each game, while hitting .371 for the match. Bova led the team in digs with 13, while Yoskey added three aces for Purdue. Syndie Nadeau led Penn State with 15 kills, while Hilary Sexton boasted 13 digs. Two Nittany Lions tallied three aces each, while the team outblocked Purdue 10 to five. Purdue hit .231 for the match to Penn State's .356.
Next up for the Boilermakers is a road stand at Minneota and at Iowa, Oct. 11 and 12.