Nov. 4, 2006
COLUMBUS, Ohio - No. 25 Ohio State sent the No. 14 Boilermaker volleyball team back to West Lafayette with its second straight loss Saturday night. The Buckeyes won the match 30-18, 31-29, 31-29.
Junior Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill) and freshman Carrie Gurnell (Katy, Texas) led the Boilermaker offense with 11 kills apiece. Sophomore Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) added 10 putdowns, while sophomore Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) and junior Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) followed with nine and seven respectively.
Senior Brittany Dildine (Lafayette, Ind.) led the Purdue defense with 16 digs, followed by sophomore Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) who pulled up eight.
Purdue took a 5-3 lead to start the match, scoring on a trio of OSU errors, a kill by senior setter Lindsay Shondell (Muncie, Ind.) and a block by Lynch and Gurnell. The Buckeyes tied the score at six before taking a lead which they would not relinquish. OSU rattled off 11 of the next 15 points to go up 17-10 and held the Boilermakers at bay for the remainder of the stanza. Mader posted four kills to lead the Purdue hitters.
The teams split the first 22 points of Game 2, before the Boilermakers posted a 6-1 run to go up 17-12. Four Buckeye miscues and kills by Gurnell and Lynch accounted for the Purdue scores. Each team posted a 3-0 run leading to a 20-15 score. Lynch tallied three straight kills in the Boilermaker run. From there Ohio State managed six of the next eight points to slice the margin to one at 22-21. Purdue responded with a 5-2 run to take a 27-23 lead. The Buckeyes scored three straight to make it 27-26 and force a Boilermaker timeout. A kill by Lynch and an OSU miscue set up Purdue's first chance at the game at 29-26. Ohio State fended off three Boilermaker game-point attempts then snatched the 31-29 win with a pair of kills by Ami Stevens. Lynch posted six kills in the stanza, while Mader added five.
Purdue trailed 7-3 in the early goings of Game 3, but rebounded with 10 of the next 14 points to go up 13-11 on an ace by freshman Sam Gray (Indianapolis, Ind.). Gurnell and Merlau each tallied a pair of kills in the run. The Boilermakers held a four-point advantage at 18-14 after three more Gurnell putdowns, but Ohio State scored eight of the next 10 points to turn the deficit into a 22-20 lead of its own. Purdue answered with a 3-1 run including kills by Gurnell and Jacques to tie the score at 23. The teams tied at 24 and 25 but OSU went ahead 28-26 on a controversial out-of-bounds call. Back to back kills by Merlau tied the score at 28. Purdue held off a Buckeye match-point attempt at 29-28 with a kill by Jacques, but a hitting error and a kill by Anna Szerszen sealed the 31-29 OSU win.
Purdue (19-6, 9-5 Big Ten) returns to action on Friday when the team welcomes the Michigan Wolverines to the IAF.