Sept. 24, 2004
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The 2004 Boilermaker volleyball team knocked off No. 13 Illinois in Huff Hall Friday night, marking its second win over a Top 15 team this season, while ending a six-match losing streak to the Illini. Purdue hadn't beaten Illinois since the 2000 season and hadn't posted two wins over Top 15 teams since 1990, when the Boilermakers downed a then No. 7 Illinois team as well as No. 15 Washington and No. 13 Wisconsin.
"This is a tough place to win," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We had a feeling that under the circumstances we could beat them tonight. Those circumstances being that we knew Renata (Dargan) was going to be able to play and that Illinois was playing its first Big Ten match without its setter, which probably put some doubt in their minds. We thought we could compete if we played tough defense and let our offense carry us. We have told our team that if we play with heart, fire and intensity that we could compete with anybody, and we did that tonight."
Purdue scored the first point of the match on an Illini service error, then Illinois scored three straight to go up 3-1. The Boilermakers tied it up at four and worked their way into an 8-7 lead on a kill by senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.), which followed a trio of Illini miscues. Purdue upped its lead to three-points at 12-9 after two more Illinois hitting errors. The Boilermaker advantage expanded to seven at 22-15 after a 7-2 rally, including an ace by sophomore Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) and kills by three different players. Purdue held the Illini at bay, not allowing the team closer than five points, and set up its first game-point attempt on a kill by senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.). Illinois kept hope alive with a pair of points, but a kill by redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier sealed the game for Purdue at 30-25.
Game 2 saw the Boilermakers begin with a 3-1 lead, but this time the Illini played catch-up pulling within one at 8-7. Purdue scored six of the next eight points to boost their lead to 14-9 on a kill by junior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.). Illinois chipped away at the Purdue advantage over the next several points, cutting the margin to one at 17-16 after a rally that included an ace by Rasa Virsilaite. Back-to-back kills by Wischmeier made it 26-22 Purdue, forcing an Illini timeout. Illinois scored three of the next four points out of the break to make it 27-25, but the Boilermakers answered with three-straight points to clinch the game at 30-25 on a back-row attack by the Illini.
The momentum stayed with Purdue to begin Game 3 as the team took advantage of two Illini errors to go up 3-1. The Boilermakers maintained control until Illinois scored four straight, turning an 8-7 deficit into an 11-8 lead. A kill by Cappa halted the rally, but the Illini boosted the point margin to five at 14-9 on a Meg Griffin ace two plays later. Purdue pulled within two at 15-13 and again at 17-15 and 19-17, but from that point it was nearly all Illinois as the team wrapped up the game at 30-21 with an 11-4 run capped by a Boilermaker service error. Purdue hit just .079 in the stanza, following efforts of .486 and .421 in the first two games.
The Boilermakers scored the first four points of Game 4 on kills by Wischmeier and freshman Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) and a block by Jacques and Dargan. The Illini pulled within one at 4-3 before tying things up at 7-7 on an ace by Kathleen Bazzetta. Illinois then scored six of the next eight points to take a 13-9 lead on another ace. Purdue trailed 16-13, but scored seven straight points to go up 20-16. The Illini fought back tying it at 21, but the Boilermakers were not fazed, pushing their lead out to three at 26-23 on a McConaha kill. The lead shrunk to one again at 27-26 on a block by Rachel VanMeter. Back-to-back kills by Wischmeier set up Purdue's first attempt at the match. VanMeter kept the match alive with back-to-back kills of her own, but an Illini hitting error gave the Boilermakers the match at 30-28.
Wischmeier led the Boilermakers with 18 kills, while McConaha posted 16 and Cappa tallied 11. Dargan just missed a triple-double, handing out 55 assists and pulling up 10 digs, but registering only nine kills. Senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.) pulled up 23 digs to lead the Purdue effort.
"We knew this was a huge game for us," McConaha said after winning her first ever match against the Illini. "We knew it would come down to whoever executed best on the small things and whoever played toughest at the end. It feels so good for us to walk away with this win."
The Boilermakers return to action on Oct. 1, when they take on Michigan in Ann Arbor.