Nov. 21, 2004
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Purdue picked up its first season sweep of Iowa since 1998, while garnering its eighth conference win for the first time since the 1998 with a 3-0 sweep of the Hawkeyes Sunday afternoon.
Purdue scored the first two points of Game 1 on a kill by senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) and an ace by sophomore Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.). The Hawkeyes tied it up at 2-2 with a kill and ace of their own. The Boilermakers then rattled off the next eight points, including an ace by sophomore Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.) as well as a pair of blocks and kills by McConaha and junior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.). The teams traded the next four points, before a kill by Leah Wischmeier (Brownstown, Ind.) made it a nine-point Purdue lead at 13-4. The Hawkeyes then made a comeback using a 7-1 run to pull within three at 14-11. A kill by Laura Simpson and a Boilermaker miscue made it a two-point game at 17-15. Iowa stuck with it, capitalizing on another Purdue error to pull within one at 19-18. The momentum then swung to Purdue as the team tallied a 10-0 run including four blocks and an ace by Dargan. A service error cost the Boilermakers their first shot at the game, but a kill by freshman Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) two plays later sealed the game at 30-20. Purdue hit .278 to Iowa's -.045 percentage and out-blocked the Hawkeyes 6-2 in the stanza.
The Boilermakers took an early 3-1 lead in Game 2 on kills by McConaha and Dargan, but Iowa managed four straight points to take a 5-3 lead, its first of the match. Purdue responded with a 5-0 run of its own including an ace by McConaha and a pair of blocks by Jacques. The teams remained close over the next several serves until Purdue stretched a four-point advantage to seven at 17-10 with kills by McConaha and Dargan. The point margin stood at 12 at 24-12 after a 7-1 Boilermaker rally including three Hawkeye errors and another Dargan ace. Iowa pulled within nine at 25-16, but Purdue allowed the team no closer.
The Hawkeyes did not lay down in Game 3 of the match, instead taking an early 5-3 lead and not relinquishing it until Purdue used a 3-0 run to tie things up at 11. Kills from McConaha and freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and an ace by senior Daren Poe (Martinsville, Ind.) brought about the knot up, but Iowa was not content to give up the lead, instead raising the margin back to three at 17-14 on a Purdue miscue. A kill by Jacques and a block by McConaha and senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.) made it a one-point game at 17-16, but Iowa maintained the advantage. Kills by Mader and Jacques tied the game at 21-21, but the Hawkeyes pushed their lead to four at 26-22. The Boilermakers used a 5-0 run, capped by a Dildine ace, to turn the deficit into a 27-26 lead. Kills by Cappa and McConaha set up Purdue's first chance at the match at 29-27, but a pair of mistakes made it 29-29. Kills from McConaha and Mader, however, clinched the 31-29 victory for Purdue. Mader posted eight kills in the final stanza, en route to a career-high 16 kills.
McConaha led Purdue with 18 kills, while Mader and Cappa added 16 and 10 respectively. Five Boilermakers reached double-digits in digs led by Poe's 15. Dildine tallied 13, while sophomore Lauren Berg (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Dargan each added 12 and McConaha finished her double-double with 10 digs. Jacques led the Purdue blocking front with a career-best six including two solo stuffs as Purdue out-blocked the Hawkeyes 12-7.
Purdue (15-13, 8-10 Big Ten) returns to action on Friday, Nov. 26 when Wisconsin (18-8, 12-6 Big Ten) comes to the IAF for a post-Thanksgiving contest.