Sept. 5, 2009
WACO, Texas - It was a nail-biter, but the #24 Boilermaker volleyball team pulled out a five-set win over the UCF Knights Saturday morning. Purdue won the squeaker 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 22-25, 15-13 as junior setter Jaclyn Hart posted a triple-double, the program's 14th overall and first since setter Renata Dargan's on Sept. 30, 2005. Hart posted 12 kills, 10 digs and 41 assists while hitting a team-best .588 in the performance.
Senior Carrie Gurnell was one of three Purdue hitters with double-digit kills, tallying 17 kills to go with 13 digs. Sophomore Tiffany Fisher added 13 putaways and nine blocks. Junior Kristen Arthurs chipped in seven kills and six blocks. Redshirt junior Lisa Pierce also added six blocks to the team tally.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen paced the team with 26 digs. Sophomore Emily Ehlers pulled up 18 digs, while Gurnell and Hart also reached double-digits. Purdue outblocked UCF 18-9 in the match.
Purdue scored the first two points of the deciding fifth set on putaways by Pierce and Fisher, but UCF charged back to take a 4-2 lead. The Boilermakers scored three in a row, including a kill and block by Fisher to go up 5-4. UCF countered with four of the next five points to go up 8-6 at the changeover. From there the Boilermakers rattled off five straight to go up 11-8 and forced UCF to burn both of its timeouts in the stretch. Hart tallied a kill and a block in the stretch. The Knights answered back with four in a row to go up 12-11 and prompt a Purdue timeout. Arthurs answered the call out of the break, racking up two kills and combining on two blocks with freshman Katie Griffin to account for four of the last five points and seal the 15-13 win and the match.
The Boilermakers raced out to a 5-0 lead to start the morning. An ace by Bashen capped the run and prompted a UCF timeout. Down 6-1, the Knights mounted a comeback, registering eight of the next 10 points to take a 9-8 lead of their own. Purdue played from behind for the next few serves, then managed four points in a row, including a pair of Gurnell putaways and an ace by Pierce, to go up 15-13. The Boilermakers continued to build their advantage, going up six at 22-16 on a kill by freshman Ariel Turner. A block by Gurnell and Arthurs put Purdue on the hill at 24-18. A service error a few plays later sealed the 25-20 win.
UCF boasted the early lead in Set 2, going up 4-2, before the Boilermakers turned the tables with an 8-2 run capped by a solo block by Turner. The Knights knotted the score at 10, but Purdue pushed ahead to a 13-10 lead and held the lead for the next 11 serves. Down 18-16, UCF scored eight in a row to make it 24-18. A pair of Knight hitting errors kept Purdue alive, but a block wrapped up the stanza at 25-20 Knights.
A trio of Boilermaker blocks, all involving Fisher, put Purdue on top 7-3 in the early going of Set 3. UCF narrowed the gap, eventually tying the score at 13-13. The teams split the next 10 points, as Hart and freshman Katie Griffin posted kills. After a knot up at 19, Purdue rattled off six straight points, including four blocks in a row en route to the 25-19 win. Fisher had a hand in all four blocks, while Gurnell aided on two blocks and two putaways.
The Knights led Set 4 from the start, taking a 10-6 advantage as miscues piled up for Purdue. The Boilermakers shook off the deficit scoring eight of the next nine points, including four straight Gurnell putdowns, to make it 14-11. UCF came back to tie things up at 14-14, but a 3-0 run, including an ace by Gurnell put Purdue back on top 18-15. The Knights used an ace of their own en route to a 20-19 advantage. A kill by Pierce ended the rally, but UCF went on to score four of the next five to tie the match at two sets apiece with the 25-22 win.
The Boilermakers (4-1) return to action at 8:30 p.m. ET when they take on the host Baylor Bears to wrap up the Baylor Classic.