Sept. 12, 2009
MANHATTAN, Kan. - The Purdue volleyball team's come-from-behind upset effort was cut short in four set by No. 17 Kentucky at the Varney's K-State Invitational Saturday morning. The Wildcats took the match 25-18, 25-18, 17-25, 25-23.
Senior outside hitter Carrie Gurnell led all hitters with a match-high 17 kills, while junior middle blocker Kristen Arthurs and freshman outside hitter Ariel Turner tallied 12 and 11 respectively. Sophomore middle blocker Tiffany Fisher chipped in eight kills on a team-best .538 hitting effort.
Sophomore defensive specialist/libero Emily Ehlers tallied 14 digs, while junior setter Jaclyn Hart added eight. Freshman defensive specialist Courtney Gosewisch served up two aces for the Boilermakers.
"Kentucky is a good team, but the first two games were not an indication of how we can play," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We made some changes before the third set and we got a lot better. I thought Carly Cramer and Courtney Gosewisch played and served well. Tiffany Fisher and Jaclyn Hart bounced back the last two sets and Kristen Arthurs was pretty good in the match. I know how badly this team wants to get it right, but we have to find a way to get over the hump."
The Boilermakers scored two of the first three points in the match on kills by Arthurs, but Kentucky soon boasted a 9-3 lead. Purdue fought back to make it a three-point game at 14-11 after a pair of kills and stuff block by Gurnell. The Wildcats responded with a 4-0 run of its own, including two Boilermaker miscues, to go up 18-11. The teams would split the next 14 points as Kentucky went on to the 25-18 win. UK hit .611 in the set, while Gurnell registered five kills for Purdue.
A kill by Pierce started the second set and the Boilermakers snapped a 3-3 tie with a string of points including a pair of blocks and kills by Hart and Turner. Down 7-5, Kentucky rattled off five straight points to take the lead. The Wildcats stretched their advantage to six at 17-11, but Purdue countered with a 3-0 run as Turner nailed down two kills and Hart added another to make it 17-14 and force a UK timeout. Kentucky responded with seven of the next eight points out of the break to make it 24-15. Three straight Wildcat miscues, a net violation, a hitting error and a back-row block kept the stanza going, but a Purdue hitting miscue gave UK the 25-18 in the set. Kentucky outhit Purdue .344 to .056 in the stanza.
Purdue surged out to a 9-3 advantage in the third set, flexing its offensive muscles as Arthurs, Gurnell and Fisher combined for six kills. Gosewisch also served up an ace in the early rally. Kentucky chipped away, cutting the margin to three at 11-8 on a block and eventually to two at 14-12. The Boilermakers scored four of the next five to go up 18-13 and prompt a UK timeout. With the score at 20-15, Purdue capitalized on a pair of Wildcat miscues to boost the lead to seven. A Sarah Mendoza kill slowed the effort, but kills by Arthurs and Turner and a block by Fisher and Gurnell helped Purdue to the 25-17 win. The Boilermakers had their best offensive showing of the morning with a .481 hitting effort as Turner racked up six kills.
Kentucky led 4-1 in the early stages of Set 4, but Gurnell issued two kills and a block and Gosewisch served up an ace to Purdue ahead 6-4. The Boilermakers increased their advantage to 14-7 after a trio of Fisher putaways and two blocks and a kill by senior Sam Ainsworth. UK then mounted its comeback, rattling off five of the next six points to kick off what would be a 14-5 run and ending up with a 21-19 Wildcat lead. A Turner putaway stopped the bleeding temporarily, but UK went up 24-21 on a kill by Becky Pavan. A block by Arthurs and Turner and an overpass kill by Gurnell kept hope alive for Purdue at 24-23. An overpass putaway by Lauren Rapp, however, wrapped up the match with the 25-23 Kentucky win.
The Boilermakers (5-3) look to regroup this afternoon before facing off with the host No. 21 Kansas State Wildcats at 8:30 p.m. ET.