Nov. 24, 2006
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A No. 10 Minnesota team clicking on all cylinders was too much for the No. 22 Boilermaker volleyball team to handle Friday night. The Golden Gophers issued Purdue a 3-0 loss with scores of 30-22, 30-22 and 30-23.
Senior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind./Harrison) led the Purdue offense with eight kills on a .412 hitting percentage. Sophomores Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) and Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind./Cathedral) followed with six kills apiece, while freshman Sam Gray (Indianapolis, Ind./Brebuef) and junior Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) added five each. Gray hit .833 on the night with five kills in six attempts.
Sophomore Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind./Muncie Central) led the Boilermaker defense with 17 digs, while Dildine added seven. Mader and Lynch also served up two of Purdue's six aces. Minnesota outhit the Boilermakers .430 to .144 on the night and outblocked Purdue 8-3.
Purdue led 4-3 in the early stages of the match after capitalizing on two Minnesota miscues and taking advantage of a service ace by Mader and a kill by Dildine. The teams tied at 4, 5 and 6, before the Gophers used a 14-4 run to turn the tie score into a 20-10 lead. Purdue countered with a 3-1 run including a kill by Merlau and an ace by Lynch. Minnesota expanded its lead to 11 at 26-15, but the Boilermakers scored seven of the next 10 points to close the gap to seven at 29-22. Lynch served up another ace and added a kill in the stretch, while Mader and Dildine also accounted for putdowns. After Purdue had held off four game-point attempts, a blocking violation sealed the 30-22 win for the Gophers. Dildine added three kills and four digs in the opening stanza.
The Boilermakers trailed 11-5 in Game 2, before Merlau tallied back-to-back kills to make it a four-point game at 11-7. Minnesota pushed the point margin to eight at 17-9 moments later. A kill by Dildine and an ace by Mader briefly stopped the Gopher attack at 17-11. The teams split the next six points to bring the score to 20-14. A 9-5 run made it 29-19 and gave Minnesota its first chance at the game. The Boilermakers thwarted three efforts on a Gopher service error and a block assist and kill by Mader to keep the game going at 29-22. A kill by Kelly Bowman gave Minnesota the 30-22 win. Dildine added four more kills in the stanza, while Mader and Lynch each tallied three.
The teams split the first six points of the deciding third game. Minnesota scored three in a row to go up 6-3, but a kill and an ace by Dildine coupled with a kill by freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) knotted the score again at 6-6. From there, the Gophers used a 10-3 run to take a 16-9 advantage. Purdue pulled within six four times, last at 19-13 on a kill by Gurnell, but Minnesota countered with four straight points. A kill by Gray stopped the rally and sparked a 6-2 run by the Boilermakers. The Purdue surge included an ace and a kill by Merlau as well as putdowns by Gray and Lynch to make it a six-point game at 25-19. The Gophers scored four of the next five to set up their first attempt at the match at 29-20. A kill by Gray and two Minnesota miscues kept Purdue alive at 29-23, but a net violation gave the Gophers the 30-23 win and the 3-0 sweep.
The No. 22 Boilermakers look to finish the regular season on a positive note when they play host to No. 11 Wisconsin Saturday at 7 p.m. for a senior night contest.