Nov. 27, 2004
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team ended the regular season with a dramatic five game loss to Northwestern Saturday night. The Wildcats won the match 30-26, 24-30, 28-30, 30-28, 15-13. Senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) posted her second career triple-double in the senior night match with 15 kills, 12 digs and 10 blocks. The Boilermakers must now wait to see if the NCAA Selection Committee gives them an NCAA berth. The committee will announce the 64-team field at 6:45 p.m. (EST) Sunday on ESPN News.
Purdue took a 3-0 lead to start the deciding fifth game, with an by freshman Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and kills by Mader and redshirt junior Leah Wischmeier (Brownstown, Ind.). Northwestern fought its way back from a 4-2 deficit to tie the score at 4-4 on back-to-back kills by Julie Purcell. A block gave the Wildcats a 5-4 lead, but Purdue answered with a kill by sophomore Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.) to tie it up at 5-5. Purdue then turned a 7-6 deficit into an 8-7 lead after two NU hitting errors. Northwestern scored the first two points out of the break to go ahead 9-8, but a Mader kill again knotted the score at nine. A Wildcat kill coupled with two Boilermaker miscues put NU on top 12-9. Kills by Mader and Ukovich made it a one-point game at 12-11, but a kill and a block put Northwestern on the hill at 14-11. Back-to-back kills by Wischmeier prolonged the match, but a service error sealed the Wildcat win. NU hit .238 to Purdue's .121 in the final stanza and posted three blocks to Purdue's one.
"It's not the way we wanted to end our season, but I am not shocked," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We had a huge win last night and we didn't have the horses to get there tonight. We knew it was going to be this kind of match, a grinder, and we hoped we would hang on in game four. You have to give Northwestern credit though. They are having a tough season and to continue to play hard through the end of the season despite that is a credit to their coaches and their team."
The five-game thriller began as Northwestern took a 3-1 lead to start Game 1. The Boilermakers pulled within one at 3-2, 4-3 and 5-4, but could not break through. Down 10-7, Purdue capitalized on a pair of Wildcat miscues and a back-row kill by sophomore Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) to finally tie it up at 10-10. NU, however regained control with a 6-2 run to make it a four-point game at 16-12. The teams traded points including an ace by junior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) but the Wildcats boosted the margin to five at 22-17 forcing a Purdue timeout. A kill by senior Kim Cappa (West Lafayette, Ind.) and an NU error cut the lead to three, but the Wildcats scored three of the next four to push the advantage back to five at 26-21. Purdue took its second timeout and managed a 5-1 rally out of the break, including a pair of kills by freshman Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) to make it 27-26. A Boilermaker service error coupled with a block and a kill by Northwestern gave the Wildcats the 30-26 win.
The Wildcats carried the momentum into Game 2, taking an early 7-2 lead. Purdue played from behind, but pulled within three at 1-8 after a kill and a block by Jacques coupled with an NU error. Down 14-11, the Boilermakers rallied with a 10-3 run to turn the deficit into a three point lead at 20-17. Dargan served another ace and five different player posted kills during the string. Northwestern answered Purdue's run with four straight points to take a 21-20 lead. Purdue used a 5-0 run including two blocks and a two Wildcats miscues to turn a 22-21 deficit into a 26-22 advantage. The Boilermakers scored four of the last five points, including two kills by Mader and a block by Mader and Jacques to clinch the 30-24 come-from-behind win. Mader posted six kills in the stanza.
The teams traded the first six points of Game 3, leading to a 3-3 tie. Back-to-back kills by Mader broke the cycle and gave Purdue a 5-3 lead. Northwestern tied it up at six, but kills by Ukovich and Cappa helped Purdue to a 9-6 advantage. After another tie at 9, Purdue went up by two on a Ukovich ace, but the Wildcats used a kill and a block to knot the score at 11. Northwestern managed its first lead of the game at 17-16 on a Courtnie Paulus ace. A Cappa kill tied it up and a kill by McConaha put Purdue back on top 18-17. The Wildcats then scored five straight to make it 22-18, forcing a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers posted a 4-0 run out of the break to tie the game at 22-22. Northwestern scored three of the next four to make it 25-23, and boosted the lead to 28-26, before Purdue ended the stanza with a 4-0 run including kills by Wischmeier and McConaha and a pair of blocks. McConaha posted six kills and three blocks in the game.
Purdue continued to begin Game 4, taking a 4-1 lead in the early goings. A Wildcat hitting error pushed the margin to four at 7-3, but Northwestern cut the lead to two at 8-6. A pair of NU errors and kills by Jacques and Ukovich made it a five-point game at 12-7. Purdue maintained control, using a 4-0 run to boost the advantage to seven at 21-14. Northwestern the used an 11-3 run, including a string of four straight to turn the deficit into a 25-24 lead. A Boilermaker block tied the score at 25, but the Wildcats held a 28-26 lead in the waning moments. Kills by Ukovich and McConaha tied the score at 28, but a hitting error and a Lindsay Anderson kill gave Northwestern the 30-28 win, forcing the fifth stanza.
Mader led the Boilermakers with 18 kills, while McConaha, Ukovich and Wischmeier followed with 15, 12 and 10 respectively. Six Purdue players posted double-digit dig tallies led by senior Daren Poe with 17. McConaha and junior Lauren Berg each added 12, while Dargan and Dildine picked up 11 each. McConaha finished her second career triple-double with a team-high 10 blocks. Dargan added seven blocks, and three aces to the Boilermaker effort.
Purdue's postseason future now lies in the hands of the NCAA selection committee, which will announce the 64-team NCAA Tournament field at 6:45 p.m. (EST) Sunday on ESPN News. The Boilermakers 16-14, 9-11 Big Ten registered their best regular season since 1992 with 16 wins and nine conference victories.