Oct. 21, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 14 Boilermaker volleyball team wrapped up the first half of its conference season with a 3-1 win over Northwestern Saturday night. The Boilermakers moved to 17-4 on the season and 7-3 in the Big Ten with the 23-30, 32-30, 30-28, 30-23 win, tying them for third place at the midway point of the conference season.
Junior Elizabeth Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) chalked up a career-high 17 kills and five blocks, while sophomore Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) and junior Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) added 15 and 11 respectively. Sophomore Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) registered nine kills and five blocks for the Boilermakers.
Senior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) led the defense with 14 digs, while also serving up three aces.
Northwestern took a 4-0 lead to start the match, but the Boilermakers fought back to go up 10-9 moments later. Merlau, Lynch and Jacques chalked up kills in the run. Purdue led 13-11 before the Wildcats rattled off nine of the next 10 points to make it 20-14 Northwestern. Down nine at 26-17, the Boilermakers posted a 5-2 run to pull within six at 28-22. Purdue thwarted one Northwestern game point attempt, before a kill by Lindsay Anderson gave the Wildcats the 30-23 win.
The Wildcats led 8-4 in the early goings of Game 2, but Purdue 10 of the next 12 points, including four kills by Merlau and an ace by Dildine, to go up 14-10. The teams split the next 16 points leading to a 22-18 score. Northwestern used an 8-4 run to tie the score at 26, but Purdue countered with three of the next four to set up its first game point attempt at 29-27 on a kill by senior Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.). The Wildcats posted three in a row to take their own shot at the game at 30-29. The Boilermakers sealed the game with a 3-0 run of its own including a block assist and kill by Jacques to win 32-30. Jacques and Lynch each posted five kills in the stanza.
The Boilermakers trailed 13-8 in Game 3, but scored three in a row, including a kill and an ace by Lynch to pull within two at 13-10. Northwestern posted a 9-4 run to expand its lead to eight at 22-14. The Boilermakers countered with 10 of the next 12 points including two kills and two blocks by freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) to tie the game at 24. The Wildcats were up 28-26 moments later, but Purdue closed the game with a 4-0 run, capped by back-to-back aces by Dildine, to take the 30-28 win. Jacques added six kills to her tally in the stanza and Lynch posted five.
"I had a mental talk with myself before the weekend and decided that I am going to do everything I can for the team and give it everything I have whenever I have the opportunity," Jacques said. "I realized that I am a junior now who has started a bunch of matches, and now is my time to step up. We have so many great offensive weapons that if I do my job, it will open things up for someone else and so on. As my confidence grew, I could feel myself becoming more aggressive and dynamic throughout the night, plus the setters did an awesome job of getting me the ball in good situations."
Purdue faced a 7-4 deficit at the start of Game 4, but overcame it with an 11-4 run. Mader chalked up five kills in the stretch as the Boilermakers took a 15-11 advantage. Purdue increased its lead to six points at 23-17 after a pair of blocks and a kill by Jacques. Northwestern cut the margin to three at 23-20 prompting a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers scored six of the next eight out of the break to make it 29-22. A block by Gurnell and Lynch set up the Boilermakers' first match point attempt. A kill by Brittney Aldridge kept the match going, but Lynch put down her 15 kill to give Purdue the 30-23 win and the match.
"We knew it would be easy playing against a focused and intense Northwestern team," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We caught fire midway through Game 3 and carried that into the rest of the match. For the first time all season, we started making the defensive plays we need to make to be successful: pursuit plays, digging balls off the block, etc. Our defense played well and with great intensity from that point on and our middles picked up their game and played well tonight as well."
The Boilermakers (17-4, 7-3 Big Ten) return to action Wednesday night when they take on Indiana for the Monon Spike.