Sept. 27, 2009
Listen: Shondell's thoughts on the match
Listen: Shondell on who played well
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team fell just two points short of an upset of No. 8 Michigan on Sunday, their second match against a ranked foe this weekend. The Wolverines won the Alumnae Day match 3-2 by scores of 17-25, 25-23, 15-25, 25-20 and 15-13 in front of a crowd of 2,298.Freshman Ariel Turner led the way for the Purdue offense, tallying 15 kills on a .300 hitting effort, while also posting three blocks, including two solo efforts. Senior Carrie Gurnell followed with 14 putaways and three solo blocks. Junior Kristen Arthurs and sophomore Tiffany Fisher added eight kills each, while junior Jaclyn Hart chipped in six.
Defensively, sophomore Emily Ehlers paced the team with 14 digs. Redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen and freshman Carly Cramer added nine apiece, while Hart pulled up eight. Ten of the 11 Boilermakers that took the floor added at least one dig. At the net, Purdue outblocked the Wolverines 12-6, including eight solo stuffs.
In the deciding fifth set, the teams tied nine times and the lead changed hands on three occasions. Purdue went up 2-0 after a service error and a hitting error by Michigan. The Wolverines tied it up at 2-2 and went on to a 4-3 advantage. UM led 8-6 at the changeover, but the Boilermakers knotted the score at 8-8 with kills by Turner and Gurnell. Michigan went up 10-8 prompting a Purdue timeout, but the Boilermakers answered with three straight points out of the break, including Cramer's first career kill and two UM miscues, to go up 11-10. Purdue maintained the lead at 12-11, but the Wolverines scored three in a row on two kills and a Boilermaker error to take a 14-12 lead. A hitting error kept the match going, but Juliana Paz recorded her 18th kill of the night to cap the 15-13 win and match for Michigan.
The Boilermakers raced out to a 5-1 lead to start the match as Arthurs served up an ace and posted a kill, while Fisher registered a solo block. Michigan charged back pulling with one at 7-6. The Boilermakers did not relinquish control, however, pushing ahead to a four-point advantage at 13-9 behind kills from four different players. The Wolverines cut the margin to two at 13-11, but would get no closer as Purdue outscored them 12-6 to wrap up the set. The Boilermakers tallied three blocks, including a pair of solo stuffs by Gurnell in the waning moments of the 25-17 win.
After trailing 4-2 in the second set, Purdue found its footing, scoring 11 of the next 14, forcing Michigan to use both of its timeouts, en route to a 13-7 advantage. Freshman Anna Drewry added two kills, while Arthurs posted a kill and a solo stop. The Wolverines cut the six-point lead to just three at 15-12, but a service error and a solo block by Turner pushed the score to 17-12. Michigan chipped away, tying the score at 20-20 after an 8-3 run. Purdue scored the next three, two on UM errors and the third on a Fisher kill to go up 23-20. The Wolverines, however, managed five straight points to snatch away the 25-23 win.
Purdue returned from intermission ready to go, rattling off the first four points of the set, including two blocks, a solo effort by Gurnell and another stop by Fisher and redshirt junior Lisa Pierce. The Boilermakers went on to a 9-5 lead, but saw Michigan soon tie the score at 9-9. A pair of Turner kills gave Purdue a little cushion as the team pushed ahead 16-11. The Wolverines pulled within three at 17-14, but Purdue capped the set with an 8-1 run. Hart posted a solo block and a kill, while Turner added two putaways. Three UM errors also aided the Boilermakers to the 25-15 win. Purdue outhit Michigan .407 to .129 in the stanza.
The teams split the first 14 points of the fourth set with neither gaining more than a one-point advantage. Michigan broke the game open after the 7-7 tie scoring 10 of the next 15 to go up 17-12. Purdue called its second timeout at that point and posted a 4-2 run out of the break to narrow the gap to three at 19-16. Turner posted two kills and Arthurs added another in the stretch. The Boilermakers cut the margin to three again at 23-20 after a UM error and a Turner kill, but a pair of Michigan putaways pushed the match to a fifth set.
The Boilermakers (9-4, 1-1 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they take on instate rival Indiana. The match has been dubbed as a Boiler Blackout and will be aired live on the Big Ten Network.