Oct. 2, 2004
East Lansing, Mich. - The Boilermaker volleyball team overcame a 12-year drought in Jennison Fieldhouse with a 3-2 win over Michigan State Saturday night. Purdue broke the losing streak with a 30-26, 26-30, 28-30, 30-21 and 15-6 win over the Spartans, garnering another historically significant victory for the Boilermakers on the day.
Purdue clinched the match in convincing fashion, dropping the Spartans 15-6 in Game 5, behind a blazing .688 hitting percentage. The Boilermakers racked up 11 kills on 16 attempts, including four by senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.). Purdue scored the first five points, before owning a nine-point lead at 12-3. Michigan State cut the margin to eigth at 13-5, but Purdue scored two of the last three to seal the victory on a McConaha kill.
"I felt like our players grew up a little tonight," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We gave away a lot of points in the first two games and in Game 3 they outplayed us in the end, but from that point on our players found their zone and it was a fun effort to watch. We went from an uptight group in the first two games to a group that was in complete control. We really learned how to relax and play on the opponents' home court tonight."
Michigan State scored the first point of the match and took a 10-6 lead in the early stages of the Game 1. Purdue responded with six of the next eight points, including a service ace by senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.), to turn the deficit into a 13-12 lead. The Spartans regained the advantage at 16-15 after three-straight points. Six ties followed, leading up to a 21-21 knot up. The Boilermakers then rattled off four points, combining an MSU miscue, a kill by Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) and a pair of aces by senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.) to take a 25-21 lead. The teams traded the next eight points, before a Spartan service error set up Purdue's first attempt at the game. A Boilermaker service error kept MSU alive, but McConaha shut the door with a kill on the following play, giving Purdue the 30-26 win.
The Boilermakers took a 1-0 lead in Game 2, but Michigan State then took charge turning a 6-6 tie into a 12-7 advantage, capitalizing on four Purdue miscues. The Spartan advantage grew to nine points at 24-15, but the Boilermakers hung tight, scoring seven of the next nine points to pull within four at 26-22. The MSU lead stood at three on three occasions, including 29-26 after Purdue thwarted the first Spartan try at game point, but a Boilermaker service error tied the match at a game apiece with a 30-26 Michigan State win.
Purdue came out with guns blazing in Game 3, turning a 4-3 deficit into a 10-6 lead, as Michigan State committed four errors. MSU tied it at 11, but the Boilermakers went up two at 15-13 on a kill by Cappa. The Spartans scored used a Purdue miscues and a kill by Kim Schram to take a 21-20 lead, but the Boilermakers responded with a 5-1 run that including a pair of blocks by Cappa as well as an ace by freshman Annie Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) to make it 25-22 in their favor. Down 28-25, MSU scored five straight on kills by four different players to take the come-from-behind win at 30-28.
The Boilermakers kicked off Game 4 with six of the first seven points, including an ace by Poe. The Spartans pulled within two at 6-4, but Purdue turned that into a five-point lead at 10-5 after a trio of MSU errors. Michigan State fought back, cutting the margin to three at 14-11, but that sparked an 8-0 Boilermaker rally capped by a McConaha service ace, making it 22-11. The Purdue advantage grew to 13 at 26-13 on a block by the freshman pair of Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) and Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.). MSU made it a 10-point game at 27-17, and even pulled within eight at 28-20. A McConaha kill set up Purdue's first game-point attempt, then a Wischmeier putdown two plays later sealed the 30-21 win sending the match to a deciding fifth game.
Wischmeier led Purdue with 23 kills, while McConaha added 15 and Mader tallied 13. Poe pulled up 17 digs in the match, moving her Purdue dig tally to 1,009.
The Boilermakers return to action at 7 p.m. on Friday against No. 4 Penn State.