Oct. 15, 2004
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern Wildcats utilized their home court advantage and edged Purdue 30-22, 30-27, 18-30 and 30-24 Friday night. Purdue looks to rebound against the Wisconsin Badgers Saturday night in Madison, Wis.
Purdue jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on kills by freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) and a solo block by McConaha. Northwestern tied it up at 3-3, but the Boilermakers pushed the advantage back to three on a pair of kills and a Wildcat miscue. NU tied it up at 10 with a 4-1 run, and took its first lead at 12-11 after back-to-back kills by Stephanie Jurivich. After a tie at 13, Northwestern rattled off 10 of the next 13 points to go up by seven at 23-16 on a service ace. Purdue pulled within six at 27-21 on a kill by freshman Emily Williams (Mishawaka, Ind.). The Wildcats then closed the game at 30-22 with a 3-1 run.
The Boilermakers shook off Game 1 and started the second game with an 8-2 run, including a trio of kills by redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier. Northwestern would not go lying down pulling within one at 10-9, capitalizing on a couple Purdue miscues. A 4-0 run, including a solo block by junior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) pushed the Boilermaker lead to five at 16-11. Purdue help the Wildcats at bay until a 4-0 NU run made it a one-point game at 19-18. Head coach Dave Shondell called a timeout to stop the rall and Purdue picked up a pair of points out of the break, but Northwestern answered with a 5-0 run to go up 23-21. The Boilermakers combined a pair of NU errors and a solo block by McConaha to regain the lead at 24-23. The teams tied at 24 and 25 before Northwestern went up 27-25. The teams traded points on the next four serves before a Purdue hitting error gave the Wildcats a 30-27 win.
The momentum swung to the Boilermakers in Game 3, as a new Purdue team appeared to emerge from the intermission. Northwestern committed four errors early in the game to give Purdue a 5-2 lead. Another NU miscue put the Boilermakers up by four at 7-3. The Wildcats turned the deficit into a one-point lead at 9-8, capitalizing on Purdue miscues. The Boilermakers rebounded with a 10-2 rally, including a pair of aces by freshman Anne Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) to take an eight-point lead at 19-11. Northwestern made it a six-point game at 20-14, but Purdue used an 8-3 run to go up by 11 at 28-17 on a kill by Dargan. The Boilermakers scored two of the last three to win 30-18 with a kill by senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.) and a solo block by Dargan.
Game 4 was a dead heat from the get-go as the teams traded each of the first 24 points, ending at a 12-12 tie. Northwestern was the first to break through going up by two at 14-12, but Purdue quickly tied it up at 14 after a pair of Wildcat errors. NU owned a four-point advantage at 20-16, but Purdue pulled within one at 21-20 with a 4-1 run, including two blocks. The Wildcats answered by running the tally to 27-22. Purdue stopped the run with a Wischmeier kill, but Northwestern clinched the match with three of the next four points.
Wischmeier led Purdue with 14 kills, while McConaha added 11 kills and a team-high 15 digs and five blocks. Northwestern hit .152 to Purdue's .134 in the match, but the Boilermakers outblocked the Wildcats 11 to nine. The Boilermakers (10-7, 3-4 Big Ten) will return to action Saturday night against Wisconsin in Madison.