Nov. 8, 2008
IOWA CITY, Iowa - It was a short night in Iowa City, as the No. 18 Boilermaker volleyball team swept the Iowa Hawkeyes 3-0 Saturday night to even their weekend tally at 1-1. Purdue won the match 27-25, 25-23 and 25-16 behind a balanced offensive attack and stellar defensive play by senior Kelli Miller.
Junior Carrie Gurnell led the way for the offense with 11 kills, while seniors Stephanie Lynch and Danita Merlau each tacked on 10. Sophomore Kristen Arthurs chipped in nine putaways on a team-best .533 hitting effort. Defensively, Miller pulled up 19 digs, while redshirt freshman Mandy Nichols added eight. Sophomore Jessica Ullrich and Merlau each contributed seven digs to the team tally. At the net, Lynch put up five blocks, while Arthurs added three stuffs.
"Any win on the road in this league is a very good thing," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We are 4-4 on the road in the Big Ten right now, and that is something I can live with, especially with the balance there is in this league. Any time you have a chance to win, you have to finish it like we did. I thought it was a good team effort tonight and we are happy to be headed home with the sweep."
The Hawkeyes scored the first two points of the set, but Purdue charged back with five straight, including an ace by Nichols, to go up 5-2. The Boilermakers maintained the advantage, pushing the margin to five at 14-9 on a putaway by Lynch. Another ace by Nichols and kills from Lynch and Gurnell put Purdue up six at 18-12. Iowa chipped away at the advantage, using a 10-4 run to tie the score at 22. A kill and an ace gave Iowa a chance at the set at 24-23. Gurnell answered with a pair of kills to thwart the effort and put Purdue on the hill at 25-24. A tie at 25 followed, before a pair of Iowa miscues gave the Boilermakers the 27-25 win. Lynch and Gurnell each tallied six putdowns in the stanza as Purdue hit .314.
Iowa raced out to an 8-5 lead in the second set, but the Boilermakers countered with a 5-0 run to turn the deficit into a 10-8 lead of their own. The Hawkeyes regained the lead at 11-10, but that sparked Purdue to another five points and a 15-11 advantage. Trailing 18-12, Iowa mounted a comeback, capitalizing on Boilermaker miscues and slicing the margin to one at 20-19. A block and a kill by Arthurs stretched the lead to three, and another putaway from the sophomore made it 24-21. A pair of hitting efforts prolonged the set, but a Hawkeye miscue sealed the 25-23 win.
The third set was a back and forth battle at the start as Iowa turned a 3-1 Boilemaker lead into a 4-3 advantage of its own. Purdue countered with putaways by Lynch and Hart and went up by two at 8-6. The Hawkeyes managed four of the next five points to regain the lead at 10-9, but the Boilermakers scored 10 of the next 12 to go up by seven at 19-12. Lynch, Merlau and Gurnell tallied kills in the run, while the team also tacked on two blocks. Iowa pulled to within five at 20-15. Arthurs then put the team on her shoulders with two kills and two blocks in the final six points to wrap up the 25-16 win and the sweep. Merlau tallied five kills in the stanza to aid the effort as well as Purdue outhit the Hawkeyes .357 to -.024.
The Boilermakers (20-6, 9-5 Big Ten) return to action at home on Friday night, when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers for the Monon Spike travelling trophy.