Nov. 8, 2002
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Boilermaker volleyball team traveled to University Park in search of another Big Ten victory, but wound up with a 3-0 loss at the hands of the Penn State Nittany Lions (19-5, 9-4).
Purdue (11-16, 1-13) took the first point of the match, capitalizing on a Nittany Lion error, but the lead was short lived as Penn State went up 3-1 moments later. Another Penn State miscue coupled with a Jen Bova (Jr., Milwaukee, WI) kill and a Renata Dargan (Fr., New Lenox, IL) service ace, gave the Boilermakers' a 4-3 advantage. Five-straight Nittany Lion points swung the momentum back in favor of the home team. Purdue stopped the run with a kill by Joanna Lowry (Jr., Glen Ellyn, IL) and cut the lead to two on a Penn State net violation. The Nittany Lions extended their advantage to nine points at 18-9, but a 3-1 Purdue run capped by a Lowry kill, sliced it to seven at 19-12. Penn State scored 10 of the next 11 to set up its first game point attempt of the night. At 29-13, a Nittany Lion miscue and a block by Marie Franke (Fr., Ballwin, MO) and Kim McConaha (So., Centerville, IN) gave Purdue new hope, but Penn State closed it out at 30-15 on a Mishka Levy kill. The Nittany Lions posted 17 kills to 10 for Purdue as Penn State hit .350 in game one.
Penn State continued the momentum in game two, outscoring the Boilermakers 5-1 in the early goings. Kills by McConaha, Lowry and Yoskey helped pull Purdue to within two at 7-5. The Nittany Lions then expanded their lead to seven with a 5-0 run, capitalizing on three Boilermaker miscues. Back-to-back kills by Lowry and Eryn Leach (Jr., Saratoga, CA) and another by Bova momentarily stopped Penn State. Purdue fell behind by as many as 10 at 22-10, before scoring four of five points including a service ace by Leach to cut the lead to seven at 24-17. The Boilermakers put together another three-point run including a Franke ace to bring it to 26-20, but that was as close as they could get. Penn State posted two kills and an Erin Iceman ace to take game two 30-20. Purdue improved to .170 hitting in game two, but the Nittany Lions also upped their effort to .386 in the game.
The Boilermakers took a 2-1 lead in game three on a McConaha kill and a block by Dargan and McConaha, but the game was soon tied at three. The Nittany Lions then took over, forcing several Boilermaker mistakes. A Lowry kill pulled Purdue with 10 at 20-10, but that was as close at the team could get as Penn State claimed the match with a 30-17 win.
"In the match as a whole, I was pleased with our effort," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "Penn State set a standard that we have to try and rise to. It was a good message to our team of where the top of our conference is at."
Lowry led Purdue with 12 kills, while sophomore libero Daren Poe (Martinsville, IN) and Franke each pulled up 14 digs. Mishka Levy led all hitters with 13 kills and libero Kaleena Walters tallied 15 digs for the Nittany Lions. Penn State outblocked the Boilermakers 12-2 and hit .390 to Purdue's .107 effort.
Next up for the Boilermakers is a Nov. 15 match at Northwestern.