Sept. 2, 2006
AUBURN, Ala. - Four Boilermakers posted double-digit kill tallies, while two Purdue defenders racked up more than 20 digs each as the team recorded a 3-2 victory over Arizona State Saturday morning at the Mizuno Challenge.
After falling behind 3-1 early in the deciding fifth game, Purdue tied the score at 3, 4 and 5, but could not gain control. Down 7-6, kills by freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) and junior Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) coupled with an ASU miscue put the Boilermakers on top 9-7. The Sun Devils fought back and the teams tied at 9, 10, 11 and 12, before kills by Gurnell and sophomore Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) gave Purdue its first chance at the match at 14-12. A pair of ASU kills extended the match, but Mader and Gurnell came through for the Boilermakers closing the door at 16-14.
Miller led the Boilermakers with an 18-kill, 28 dig double-double, while hitting a team-best .412. Mader followed with 17 kills, while Gurnell and sophomore Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) added 14 and 10 respectively. Miller led the defense with 28 digs, but senior Brittany Dildine (Lafayette, Ind.) was right behind with 24. Junior Anne Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) followed with 14. Three different players posted five blocks for Purdue, which racked up 14 stuffs in the match.
The Boilermakers took a 3-0 lead to start the match, but Arizona State fought back, turning the deficit into a 6-4 advantage. Purdue rebounded by scoring seven of the next eight points, including kills by Merlau and Gurnell. Merlau also served up an ace and recorded a block during the stretch, which gave the Boilermakers an 11-7 lead. Down three at 12-9, the Sun Devils posted a 9-3 run to take a 19-15 advantage. The Boilermakers fell behind by six, but used kills by junior Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.), freshman Sam Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.) and sophomore Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) to cut the margin to three at 23-20 forcing an ASU timeout. The break, however, sparked the Sun Devils to run off seven of the next 10 points and take a 30-23 win.
ASU controlled Game 2 during the early goings, leading 8-6 before the Boilermakers scored five in a row on a pair of kills by Miller to go up 11-8. The Sun Devils tied it up at 11 and 12, before regaining the advantage. An ace by Gray, a solo block by Gurnell and llies a kill by Jacques put Purdue back on top at 16-14. The back-and-forth battle continued, leading to six ties, the last at 23-23. An ace by Gray made it 26-23, but ASU would not go away, thwarting two Boilermaker game-point attempts and making it 29-28. Miller sealed the 30-28 win with her 10th kill of the morning.
Purdue carried the momentum into Game 3, jumping out to a 12-3 advantage with kills from a variety of different players and a trio of blocks. Arizona State made a game of it, slicing the deficit to five at 18-13, but the Boilermakers rattled off eight of the next 10 points to stretch the lead to 11 at 26-15. Miller and Mader racked up kills and senior Lindsay Shondell (Muncie, Ind.) served up an ace to lead Purdue to the advantage. The Boilermakers paused briefly before ending the game at 30-18 on a kill by Gurnell. Purdue hit .475 in the game, while limiting ASU to a .214 effort.
Game 4 featured 14 ties and 10 lead changes. The Sun Devils owned a 4-1 lead, but Purdue scored four straight to go up 5-4. ASU took control after that and held onto a lead until the Boilermakers turned a 19-17 deficit into a 20-19 lead with kills by Mader and Gurnell and solo stuff by Gurnell. The see-saw battle continued as ASU went up by two at 27-25. Ties at 27 and 28 folowed, before a block gave Arizona State its first chance at the game. A service error kept Purdue in the game, but a pair of Sun Devil kills won the stanza 31-29 and sent the match to a deciding fifth game.
The Boilermakers wrap up their stay in Auburn, Ala., with a 5 p.m. match against the host Tigers.