Sept. 20, 2008
DAYTON, Ohio - The No. 20 Boilermakers swept the Miami University Redhawks to clinch their fourth-straight tournament title Saturday afternoon. Purdue moved to 11-1 on the year and captured the Dayton Flyer Invitational championship with a 25-16, 25-15, 25-15 win.
Seniors Stephanie Lynch and Danita Merlau racked up 13 kills apiece to lead the Purdue offense, while junior Carrie Gurnell added six putdowns and sophomore Kristen Arthurs chalked up five. Senior Kelli Miller paced the defense with 18 digs, while redshirt freshman Mandy Nichols added 10. Arthurs led the team at the net with four blocks, followed by Gurnell's tally of three.
Lynch garnered tournament MVP honors, while Miller and Merlau were named to the all-tournament team
"For four weeks in a row we have played three matches in two days and we have held up pretty well and won all four tournaments," head coach Dave Shondell said. "A lot of coaches won't play that kind of schedule, but I think it makes your team tougher and focus more. We have had a few uneasy moments, but we have been able to snap back.
"There are two silver linings to our non-conference season. First, our seniors are playing fabulously and leading the team with a great amount of determination. The other is that we have been playing a lot of young people and some coming back from injury, so we will only get better as they combine with our stellar seniors."
The Boilermakers chalked up the first five points of the match before continuing on to a 12-5 lead. Merlau tallied four kills, while Lynch added three putdowns and an ace in the stretch. The Redhawks closed to within five at 13-8, but Purdue pushed ahead to a 21-12 lead after six MU errors. Miami scored four of the next six points to make it 23-16, but a pair of Arthurs putaways wrapped up the 25-16 win. Lynch racked up five kills in the set, while Merlau added four.
Efficiency helped Purdue to a 25-15 second set victory. The Boilermakers hit .323 in the stanza, while Miami managed just a .037 effort. Seven hitting errors and two service errors plagued the Redhawks in the set, which featured five ties and three early lead changes. Purdue trailed 5-4, but quickly turned it around scoring 10 of the next 12 points to go up 14-7 and prompt a MU timeout. Miami cut the margin to four at 15-11, but Lynch racked up three straight kills and Hart tacked on two as the Boilermakers increased their lead to 10 at 24-14. A putdown by Arthurs two serves later capped the set at 25-15.
The third set was a back-and-forth battle which featured six ties and five lead changes. Miami led early, but Purdue scored five in a row on kills by Merlau, Hart and Gurnell to go up 7-4. The Redhawks countered with an 8-1, going on to a 12-8 advantage of their own. Five straight points put the Boilermakers back on top, but they were not out of the woods yet. Miami went ahead 14-13, before Purdue mounted a 12-1 rally, including nine straight points to cap the 25-15 win. A Merlau kill started the final stretch, then Miller served up eight points, including two aces to clinch the win. Merlau racked up seven putdowns in the set.
Purdue (11-1) returns to action at 6 p.m. Friday when the team travels to University Park, Pa., to take on the No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions to begin Big Ten play.