Sept. 22, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Monon Spike will stay in West Lafayette for another year after Purdue swept Indiana 3-0 Wednesday night in the annual trophy match. The Boilermakers downed the Hoosiers 30-22, 30-20, 30-12.
The match started with a back-and-forth battle as the teams traded each of the first 10 points to bring up a 5-5 tie. Purdue went up three at 8-5 after back-to-back kills by senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.). Indiana fought back to tie it up at nine. The score stood at 13-13 moments later as neither team could gain an advantage, and was tied again at 15, 16 and 17 before Purdue took at three-point lead at 20-17 on kills by redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier (Brownstown, Ind.) and Renata Dargan (Jr., New Lenox, Ill.) and a solo block by freshman Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.). The Boilermakers went up five at 25-20 after a pair of Hoosier miscues, and finished the game with a 5-2 run ending it on a block and kill by McConaha. Purdue hit .567 in the game, while McConaha posted seven kills.
"We gave them a lot of points early, but two thirds of the way through the first game I thought we steadied out and started playing some pretty focused volleyball," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We were able to start picking on some of the weakness that we thought they had and we also were able to focus on their two main hitters. I was really pleased with every aspect of our game once we got started."
Indiana took a 5-2 lead to start Game 2, but Purdue tied it up at five after kills by Wischmeier and freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and an ace by Dargan. The Boilermakers took a 9-7 lead after a pair of Hoosier errors and another McConaha putdown. Indiana would not back down, however, going up 10-9 lead moments later. A 6-1 run, including a service ace by senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.), put Purdue back on top for good. The Hoosiers cut the margin to four at 16-12, but the Boilermakers answered with another 6-1 run to make it a nine-point game at 22-13. IU would get no closer than seven the rest of the game. Purdue finished the 30-20 win with six of the last eight points, including consecutive service aces by freshman Anne Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.). Back-to-back kills by Wischmeier locked up the 2-0 lead. Wischmeier tallied seven kills and Purdue served up four aces in the effort.
Game 2 was not without consequence for Purdue as Dargan left the game with an injury, but the Boilermakers did not lack at the setting position as redshirt sophomore Lindsay Shondell stepped right in without missing a beat.
"I am obviously disappointed that Renata has hurt her ankle and will probably miss Friday's match, but am pleased that Lindsay came in an did a tremendous job of running the team," Coach Shondell said. "It is hard to find a back-up setter period, let alone one that can come in and run the show and pick up the pace and provide leadership as if she'd been doing it all her life. It was a lot of fun to watch her play tonight."
Purdue took control of Game 3 from the beginning, going up 6-1 to open the stanza. Jacques accounted for two kills and two blocks in the stretch. Indiana cut the deficit to four at 8-4 on a kill by Christina Archibald, but Purdue piled up six of the next seven points to make it a nine-point game at 14-5. A pair of Boilermaker miscues let IU within seven, but a 6-0 run pushed the lead to 13 at 21-8. Archibald supplied back-to-back kills to pull Indiana within 11 at 21-10, but it was not enough as Purdue finished the match with a 9-2 rally. A hitting error by the Hoosiers clinched the 30-12 win and sweep for the Boilermakers, who hit a season-high .640 in the final stanza.
Wischmeier led the team with 17 kills on a .519 hitting effort, while McConaha posted a double-double with 14 kills and 11 digs to go with her team-high four blocks. Poe pulled up 13 digs to lead the defense. The Boilermakers outblocked Indiana nine to one and outhit the Hoosiers .452 to .130.
"I went to Kim Cappa and Daren before the game and said this is our last time playing IU in our gym," McConaha said. "I saw in their eyes that they were ready to go and when that happened everyone else followed our lead. Our team really played as a unit tonight. We were mentally tough and everyone was really going after the ball. We weren't hesitating at all. I felt a real flow throughout the team tonight and when that happens, we are unstoppable."
The Boilermakers will face their next test against No. 13 Illinois on Friday in Champaign, Ill.