Sept. 5, 2009
WACO, Texas - For the second time on Saturday, the #24 Boilermaker volleyball team took part in a five-set battle at the Baylor Classic, but Purdue could not come out with another breath-taking win. The Boilermakers fell 25-21, 20-25, 23-25, 25-23 and 15-13 to close out the weekend.
Senior outside hitter Carrie Gurnell paced Purdue with a career-high 23 kills and adding nine digs and five blocks. Junior middle blocker Kristen Arthurs added 14 kills, while freshman outside hitter Ariel Turner tacked on 10. Sophomore middle blocker Tiffany Fisher followed with eight putaways to match her eight-block output.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore libero Blair Bashen racked up 39 digs, the second highest tally in school history, behind Kelli Miller's record of 40 set in 2007. Gurnell followed with nine digs, while sophomore defensive specialist Emily Ehlers pulled up eight and freshman defensive specialist Carly Cramer tallied seven. Ehlers also served up an ace for Purdue, while redshirt junior Lisa Pierce added two.
Gurnell and junior setter Jaclyn Hart garnered all-tournament team honors, while Bashen was named the all-tournament libero.
"I am proud of the way we played tonight, it was a good overall effort," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We beat them in nearly every category and we ended up with a loss. I thought we played a nice match, served tough and put up a good block. It was just a couple of little things. We are continuing to get better."
Baylor opened up the fifth set with six of the first eight points, capitalizing on Purdue miscues. The Bears were up 8-3 at the changeover, but the Boilermakers charged back to within three at 9-6 after kills from Fisher, Turner and Gurnell. Three straight putaways by Ashlie Christenson made it 12-6 Baylor. Purdue was facing match point at 14-9, but rallied back to pull within one at 14-13. Arthurs started the run with a kill and Gurnell followed with two kills and a solo block, but tournament MVP Katie Sanders squeaked the final kill through the Boilermaker block for the 15-13 win.
The Boilermakers and Bears split the first 14 points of the match. Senior Carrie Gurnell and junior Kristen Arthurs each chalked up a kill and a block during the stretch. Purdue recorded eight of the next 11 points to turn the knot up into a 15-10 lead as Gurnell added four kills and a block. Down 19-14, Baylor went on a 6-1 run to bring the score to a 20-20 tie. A service error ended the rally. Kills from Fisher and Gurnell made it 23-20 and prompted the Bears to use their final timeout. Baylor posted a kill out of the break, but a service error and a putdown by Hart gave Purdue the 25-21 win. Gurnell racked up eight kills on 10 swings in the opening stanza and added two blocks as the Boilermakers hit .556 in the set.
Set 2 featured 12 ties and seven lead changes. Midway through, the score was tied at 13-13 and neither team had owned more than a two-point advantage. That all changed as Baylor used a 6-3 run to go ahead 20-16. From there, Purdue clawed its way back to within two at 22-20 with putaways by Gurnell and Arthurs and a solo stuff by Pierce, but the Boilermakers could not hold off three straight Bear kills in the 25-20 loss.
Purdue owned a 6-4 lead early in the third set as Ehlers and Pierce served up aces. Baylor tied the score at eight before going ahead 11-9. The Boilermakers tied it up at 11 on a block by Pierce and Fisher and again at 15 on a kill by Turner. The Bears scored five in a row to go up by five at 20-15 and eventually by six at 22-16. Purdue rallied with a 4-0 run as Turner and Arthurs each chalked up a pair of putaways. Trailing 24-21, an Arthurs kill and a block by Gurnell and Fisher kept the set going, but Katie Sanders downed the final point for a 25-23 Baylor win.
With their backs against the wall in the fourth set, the Boilermakers came through to send the match to a deciding fifth set. Purdue controlled the set from the beginning, leading 16-12 at the halfway point. Pierce served up an ace, posted three blocks and saw five different players tally kills en route to the advantage. Baylor would not go down quietly, however, turning an 18-14 deficit into a 22-20 lead with a handful of kills. Kills by Pierce and Gurnell made it 22 all. A Fisher putaway tied it at 23, then a ball handling error and hitting miscue by the Bears sealed the 25-23 win.
The Boilermakers (X-X) return to action on Sept. 11 when they take on Portland at the Varnay's Kansas State Invitational in Manhattan, Kan.