Oct. 9, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Facing Top 10 teams in back-to-back matches proved to be too much for the Boilermakers as they fell 3-0 to the No. 9 Ohio State volleyball team Saturday night. The Buckeyes won the match 30-23, 30-26 and 30-24, while hitting an outstanding .441 in the contest.
Purdue scored first in the match on a kill by junior setter Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.). The Buckeyes then registered three of the next four points to take a 3-2 lead. The Boilermakers answered with a 3-1 run of their own to go up 5-4 on a kill by junior Marie Franke (Ballwin, Mo.). Ohio State tied it at five setting off a string of 12 knot-ups, culminating at 16-16, when the Buckeyes went up by two at 18-16 on back-to-back kills by Danielle Meyer. Purdue pulled within one on four times, last at 21-20 on a kill by Franke. OSU then scored six straight points on a trio of kills by Ami Stevens and three Boilermaker miscues. Purdue pulled within five at 28-23 on kills by senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) and redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier (Brownstown, Ind.), but it was not enough as a service error and an OSU ace sealed the game at 30-23. Ohio State hit .600 to Purdue's .289 in the stanza.
The Boilermakers appeared to rebound in Game 2, starting off with a 4-0 run, including blocks by Dargan and McConaha. Ohio State, however, used a 7-2 rally to turn the deficit into a one-point advantage at 7-6. A kill by Wischmeier tied it up at 7-7, marking the first of five tie scores. The Buckeyes went up by two at 13-11 and increased their lead to 18-14 a few serves later. Purdue cut the margin to one at 19-18 with a 4-1 run featuring service aces by sophomore Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) and freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.). Down 23-20, the Boilermakers used kills from Wischmeier and Franke and a block from Mader and classmate Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) to tie things up at 24. The teams tied again at 25 on a kill by Mader, but OSU used a 5-1 run to sew up the 30-26 win. Wischmeier racked up six kills in the game, but that was trumped by Stacey Gordon's 10.
Purdue took a 2-0 advantage to begin game 3 with kills by McConaha and Dargan, but Ohio State turned that into a 3-2 lead of their own on a three-straight points by Ami Stevens. The Buckeyes expanded the point margin to 10 at 17-7. The Boilermakers sliced into the OSU lead with an 8-2 run including kills by four different players and a pair of McConaha-Dargan blocks. Ohio State then turned the tables with a 7-3 run of their own to go up 26-18. Kills by McConaha and Dildine pulled Purdue within six at 27-21, but Ohio State set up its first match-point attempt with a Stevens kill which made it 29-22. A Wischmeier kill prolonged Purdue's life, but Gordon put down her 22nd kill of the match to give Ohio State the 30-23 win.
"This is a tough league," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We played two of the top three teams in the league on back-to-back nights and that sets up your chances to fall. We just did not play well and that had a lot to do with our mentality. Now, we just have to forget this match and go out and get ready to play Northwestern. They are a team we can beat and, if our desire it to make the NCAA Tournament, it is a match we need to win."
Wischmeier led Purdue with 14 kills, followed by McConaha who put down 11. Senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.) tallied 16 digs to lead the Boilermaker defense. Ohio State hit .441 for the match to Purdue's .266 effort, as Gordon put up a match-high 22 kills.
The Boilermakers will return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they take on Northwestern in Evanston, Ill.