Sept. 17, 2006
MALIBU, Calif. - Four Boilermaker hitters posted double-digit kill tallies as the No. 14 Purdue registered a 3-1 win over No. 20 Pepperdine Saturday night. The Boilermakers won the match 30-21, 25-30, 30-24, 32-30 to move to 10-1 on the season.
The Boilermakers opened Game 1 with a 7-4 lead behind kills from four different players. Juniors Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) along with sophomores Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) and Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) contributed to the Purdue offensive effort. Pepperdine clawed their way into a 10-10 tie, but the Boilermakers did not give way to the Waves, instead pushing the point-margin to five at 21-16. After a brief pause, Purdue continued to run up the score making it 25-17 following a pair of aces by Lynch. Freshman Sam Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.) added two aces of her own to make it 28-18. The Waves scored three of the next four to keep the game going but a kill by sophomore Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) sealed the win at 30-21. Mader tallied six kills in the stanza.
Pepperdine went up 8-1 to start the second game and maintained at least a six point advantage until the halfway mark. The Boilermakers managed three points in a row to cut the margin to five at 18-13 on a solo block by Jacques. The Waves were unrelenting, pushing the lead to six at 23-17, prompting a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers scored three in a row out of the break to make it 23-20, but could not break through, falling 30-25. Freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) racked up five kills in the game.
Game 3 was a back and forth battle from the beginning as the team tied six times the last at 7-7 before either gained a sizeable advantage. From that point the Boilermakers scored five in a row to take a 12-7 lead after a pair of ace by Lynch. The Waves cut the lead to two at 16-14, but Purdue rallied with a 9-2 run to make it 25-16. Pepperdine pulled within four at 28-24, before a kill by Lynch and a block by Lynch and Merlau gave the Boilermakers the 30-24 win.
The teams traded points in the early stages of Game 4, tying seven times last at 8-8 before a pair of kills by Merlau gave Purdue the advantage. Pepperdine scored three in a row to make it 11-10 Waves. The Boilermakers fought back to go up 15-13 on a kill by Gurnell and owned a four-point lead moments later at 21-17 after three straight kills by Jacques. Up five again at 24-19, a timeout sparked the Waves to a 6-0 run and a 25-24 lead. Purdue answered with three in a row, but Pepperdine took the lead at 28-27 soon after. The Boilermakers fought off a game-point attempt at 29-28 with a block by Lynch and used another by Gurnell to set up their first shot at the match at 30-29. A net violation evened the score, but Jacques and Mader put up kills to give Purdue the 32-30 overtime win.
Gurnell led the Boilermakers with 16 kills on a .500 hitting percentage, followed by Mader (15), Jacques (14) and Merlau (14). Merlau finished off a double-double with 10 digs, while senior Brittany Dildine (Lafayette, Ind.) pulled up 25 digs to lead the Purdue defense. Miller added 17 digs, while Lynch tallied seven blocks and four aces.
The Boilermakers (10-1) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they take on Michigan State in East Lansing.