Oct. 14, 2006
MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. - The No. 23 Minnesota Golden Gophers issued the Purdue volleyball team its second straight loss Saturday night, topping the Boilermakers 3-1. The Gophers won the match 28-30, 30-26, 30-25 and 30-22. Junior Samantha Mader led the Purdue offense with 14 kills, while sophomore Stephanie Lynch added 10.
Sophomore Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) led the Boilermakers defensively with 24 digs, while senior Brittany Dildine (Lafayette, Ind.) added 13. Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) chalked up eight blocks to lead Purdue at the net, while junior Elizabeth Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) added six stuffs including three solo efforts. The Boilermakers served up 11 aces to just five for the Gophers and 14.5 blocks to UM's 13.
"I am proud of the way our team bounced back tonight," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We gave a pretty good representation of Purdue volleyball to a national television audience, but we recognize that there are lot of things we can do better."
The Boilermakers trailed Minnesota 6-2 early in Game 1, but Purdue turned the tables with five straight points. Senior Lindsay Shondell (Muncie, Ind.) served up back to back aces, while Lynch added a kill and a block as Purdue went up 7-6. After ties at 7, 8, 9 and 10, the Gophers used a 6-3 run to take a 16-13 lead. The Boilermakers played from behind from that point, but scored 10 of the next 16 points to take the lead at 23-22 on an ace by sophomore Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.). Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) chalked up two kills in the stretch, while Jacques added two blocks. The Purdue lead stood at three moments later as a kill by Lynch made it 27-24. A block by Lynch and freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) set up the Boilermakers first chance at the game at 29-27, but it was thwarted by a Gopher block. Gurnell ended the stanza with a kill to give Purdue the 30-28 win.
The Gophers took a 7-3 lead to begin Game 2 and boosted the advantage to five at 16-11. The Boilermakers answered with seven of the next eight points, including kills from Dildine, Mader and Lynch and another ace by Shondell to go up 18-17. Minnesota posted a 10-2 run to turn the one-point deficit into a 27-20 lead. A pair of Gophers errors, a kill by Mader and an ace by freshman Sam Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.) made it a three-point game at 27-24. Minnesota made it 29-25 with a pair of kills by Kelly Bowman. A kill by Mader kept the game alive, but the Gophers took the next point for the 30-26 win. Mader added five kills in the stanza.
Trailing 4-2 in Game 3, the Boilermakers put together a 4-0 run to go up 6-4. Purdue maintained the advantage until the Gophers tied the score at 7-7, sparking a run of seven straight points. Up 13-7, Minnesota continued to rally pushing the margin to nine at 22-13. A pair of kills by Mader stopped the run, but the Gophers led by nine again at 25-16. The Boilermakers registered eight of the next nine points, including five on UM errors, to slice the margin to two at 26-24. Minnesota capped the game with four of the last five points to take the 2-1 lead in the match with the 30-26 win.
Minnesota led 8-2 to start Game 4, but the Boilermakers clawed their way to within two at 12-10. Shondell served up an ace and Jacques tallied a pair of kills in the rally. The Gophers scored seven of the next 10 points to make it 19-13, but Purdue countered with a 5-1 run of its own to make it 20-18 and force a Minnesota timeout. Gray served up two aces in the string. The Gophers used a 9-2 run to take a 29-20 lead and give themselves a chance at the match. A kill by Dildine thwarted the first effort, then a block by Lynch and Gurnell kept the match going. A kill by Meredith Nelson finally gave Minnesota the match at 30-22.
The Boilermakers (15-4, 5-3 Big Ten) return to action on Friday, Oct. 20 when they welcome the Illinois Fighting Illini to the IAF.