Sept. 13, 2003
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team made short work of the Middle Tennessee Lady Raiders, tallying a 3-0 sweep Saturday morning. Purdue won the match 30-21, 30-27, 30-19 in game four of the Mortar Board Purdue Premier.
The Boilermakers hit .300 for the match, while holding the Lady Raiders to just a .193 effort. Purdue's hitting success began in game one, when the team posted a .333 percentage. Six different hitters got in on the action, led by junior Kim McConaha's six kill performance. Sophomore setter Renata Dargan helped out from the service line, racking up three of the team's four aces. After trailing 6-4, Purdue bounced back to take a 13-7 lead. MTSU cut the lead to three at 13-10, but that was as close as they would come. Purdue capped the effort with a 5-0 run including two McConaha kills and ending with a Kim Cappa service ace.
Purdue led game two from the beginning, allowing the Lady Raiders to tie it up at two and four, but never relinquishing the lead. The Boilermaker lead swelled to six at 22-16. MTSU pulled within three at 24-21 and then crept back from a seven point deficit to make it 29-27. After four game-point attempts, Purdue put it away at 30-27 on a Lady Raider service error. McConaha tallied six more kills, but it was freshman Melanie Ukovich who helped boost the team's hitting percentage. Ukovich had five kills in seven attempts, with no errors for a .714 effort. Purdue won the game despite being out-blocked and out-dug by the Lady Raiders.
Purdue finished it off with a dominating win in game three. A stout defense and a sparked offense helped the Boilermakers to the win. Seven players supplied digs for the team including four by redshirt sophomore Leah Wischmeier. Junior Kim Cappa put down seven kills, part of a .750 hitting effort, while McConaha was a perfect five-for-five in her swings. Freshman Katie Dobson tallied three kills in her four attempts. Purdue took a 11-point lead at 24-13, before letting the Lady Raiders back in momentarily. The point margin teetered between 10 and 11 over the next several serves. Purdue then finished the match on its third game-point attempt with a kill by McConaha.
McConaha led the Boilermakers with 17 kills, while Cappa recorded 12. Dobson led all hitters with an outstanding .857 hitting percentage, making good on six of her seven swings. Junior libero Daren Poe led the team with 12 digs, followed by Wischmeier's 11. McConaha posted four blocks to lead the Boilermakers.
Purdue returns to action at 7 p.m. to wrap up the Mortar Board tournament with a match against Indiana State (5-3).