Sept. 30, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A five-set match brought the Boilermaker volleyball team heartache again on Wednesday night as the Indiana Hoosiers left Belin Court with a 3-2 win. The Hoosiers won the match 25-22, 25-17, 17-25, 17-25, 15-13.
Senior Carrie Gurnell led the Purdue offense with 14 kills, 13 of which came in the final three sets as the Boilermakers aimed for a comeback. Freshman Ariel Turner tacked on 12 kills and served up three of the team's five aces. Sophomore Tiffany Fisher added 11 kills, while hitting at a team-best .391 clip and putting up a team-high four blocks. Junior Kristen Arthurs tallied nine putaways and four blocks, while freshman Anna Drewry also added four stuffs.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen and sophomore Emily Ehlers both reached double-digits with 16 and 10 digs respectively.
Indiana opened the fifth set with four straight points. Purdue countered with a 6-0 run, including three Gurnell putaways and capped by an overpass termination by Drewry. The teams tied at 6, 7 and 8, but Purdue maintained the edge with a Turner kill. Down 9-8, the Hoosiers scored six of the next eight to set up their first shot at the match at 14-11. A kill and an ace by Turner kept the Boilermakers going and prompted an IU timeout. Indiana scored the next point out of the break to clinch the match at 15-13.
Indiana scored seven of the first 10 points to start the match. Purdue fought back to within one at 12-11 after a 4-0 run, including kills by Turner, Arthurs and Drewry and a perfect serve by Turner. The Hoosiers, however, maintained the advantage, going up by four at 16-12. A block by Hart and Arthurs pulled the Boilermakers within two at 20-18, but IU soon owned a 23-19 lead. Purdue scored three of the next four, thwarting two set points in the process as Fisher and Drewry combined on a block and the Hoosiers helped with an error. Jordan Haverly posted her fifth kill of the set to nab the 25-22 win for Indiana.
The second set saw the Hoosiers lead from start to finish. After a tie at four, Indiana scored seven of the next nine to pull away. An ace by Bashen made it a three-point game at 15-12, but Indiana answered with a 10-5 run to clinch the stanza.
Trailing two sets to none, the Boilermakers came out of intermission determined to extend the match. A block by Gurnell and Fisher and Fisher putaway started the stanza. The teams tied six times, last at 7-7, before Purdue was able to pull away, scoring eight of the next 11 to go up 15-10. The Boilermakers capitalized on Hoosier miscues, including three straight, en route to the advantage. A kill and an error stopped the rally temporarily, but Purdue was soon up by eight at 20-12. The teams split the next eight points, but Purdue got its first shot at the set at 24-16 on a kill by junior Jaclyn Hart. An IU putaway kept the stanza going, but a hitting error doomed the Hoosiers in the 25-17 loss. Purdue outhit Indiana .458 to .147 in the set.
The Boilermakers carried the momentum into the fourth set, going up 3-0 on a putaway by Gurnell and two Hoosier errors. Indiana tied it up at 3-3 and went on to a 6-5 lead. Purdue turned the tables with a 5-0 run, including three Turner terminations and one each from Hart and Arthurs. IU pulled within three at 10-7 and 11-8, but would get no closer the rest of the stanza. Purdue pushed its advantage to eight at 21-13. The Hoosiers cut the margin to five at 22-17, but the Boilermakers capped the set with three straight points, two on Gurnell kills and the last on a solo stuff by Drewry.
The Boilermakers (9-5, 1-2 Big Ten) will return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when No. 8 Minnesota visits Belin Court to wrap up Purdue's six-match homestand.