Sept. 6, 2008
MUNCIE, Ind. - The No. 18 Boilermaker volleyball team made a clean sweep of the Active Ankle Challenge this weekend, taking the host Ball State Cardinals in three sets Saturday night. Purdue won the match 25-14, 25-17, 25-21, taking their third opponent of the weekend via sweep.
"You would like to go through a match and not have any shaky points, but we played nine games and won all nine," head coach Dave Shondell said. "There were points in each match where we were challenged but we found a way to close the door. There weren't any major injuries or major drama, so overall it was a pretty good weekend."
Senior Danita Merlau was the lone Boilermaker with double-digit putdowns in the contest, tallying 10. Sophomore Kristen Arthurs followed with nine on a .500 hitting effort, while senior Stephanie Lynch added seven kills. The Boilermakers hit .280, while holding the Cardinals to a .043 effort.
Hometown hero and tournament MVP Kelli Miller paced the Purdue defense with 16 digs, while sophomore Jessica Ullrich pulled up 11. Lynch led the Boilermakers at the net with five blocks, while Merlau added four. The team served up six aces, including two each by Ullrich and junior Sam Ainsworth.
The Boilermakers started the match on the right note with a pair of blocks, two aces and a few Cardinal hitting miscues en route to a 11-5 advantage. Ball State cut the margin to three at 11-8, but Purdue scored 11 of the next 13, including kills by four different players and an ace by Ullrich, her second of the match, to go up 22-10. The Cardinals countered with four of the next five points to make it 23-14, but a service error and a hitting miscue sewed up the 25-14 win.
Merlau chalked up three kills in the early goings of set two as the Boilermakers took a 7-3 lead. The Cardinals were not content to let Purdue run away with the match, instead taking a 9-8 advantage of its own. Trailing again at 10-9, the Boilermakers posted five straight points, including kills by Merlau and Lynch and a pair of blocks, to go on top 1-10. The team continued to build its lead, pushing it to six at 18-12 after an ace by Ainsworth and a kill by Hart. BSU made it a four-point game at 20-16, but the Boilermakers wrapped up the stanza with five of the next six points, featuring two kills and a block by Arthurs, to take the 25-17 win and a 2-0 lead in the match.
The third set featured nine ties and four lead changes, but ended up with a 25-21 Boilermaker victory. Arthurs, Lynch, Ainsworth and redshirt freshman Mandy Nichols tallied kills en route to a 6-3 Purdue advantage. The feisty Ball State squad made it interesting with four straight points, putting them ahead 7-6. Purdue went back on top at 8-7 and led 10-9 before the next Cardinal rally. BSU scored three in a row to take its biggest lead of the night at 12-10 and continued to hold an edge until the Boilermakers put together a 6-1 run, including four Cardinal errors, turning a 16-14 deficit into a 20-17 lead. Up by one at 21-20, Purdue registered four of the last five points, the last on a block by Lynch and Merlau, to clinch the 25-21 victory and the sweep.
Miller was named tournament MVP and Lynch and Merlau garnered all-tournament team nods as Purdue captured its second straight tournament title.
The Boilermakers (6-0) return to action on Friday when they take on Saint Louis at the Utah Classic in Salt Lake City.