Oct. 31, 2009
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team was outmatched by No. 6 Illinois Saturday night. The Fighting Illini won the contest 25-21, 25-19, 25-14.
Sophomore Tiffany Fisher led Purdue with a match high 10 kills, while senior Carrie Gurnell added eight, while freshman Anna Drewry and redshirt junior Lisa Pierce tallied five and four respectively.
Sophomore Emily Ehlers paced the defense with 10 digs, while freshman Carly Cramer recorded six and redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen added five. Cramer also served up two aces in the match. At the net, Drewry led the way with four blocks.
The Boilermakers started the match by scoring five of the first six points, including an ace by Cramer and a pair of blocks by Drewry. Arthurs and Gurnell each combined with the freshman on a stuff in the stretch. The Boilermakers would go on to lead 8-3 after a pair of Fisher kills. Illinois chipped away, narrowing the gap to two at 8-6, but the Purdue lead rose to four at 14-10 prompting an Illini timeout. The Fighting Illini used a 9-4 run to push their way to a 19-18 advantage after back-to-back blocks. A Drewry kill tied it at 19, but Illinois closed out the set at 25-21 with six of the next eight points.
Purdue boasted a 7-5 lead in Set 2. After ties at seven, eight and nine, the Illini went ahead 12-9 and soon pushed the margin to five at 16-11 prompting Purdue to use its final timeout. The Boilermakers narrowed the gap to three at 19-16 after a solo block by Arthurs, a kill from Drewry and an Illinois miscue. The Illini, however, pulled away with five of the next six points en route to a 24-18 advantage. An service error kept the stanza going, but Erin Johnson won a joust at the net to give Illinois the 25-19 win.
The teams split the first 10 points of the third set, which included a Cramer ace and two blocks for the Boilermakers. The Illini broke things open with an 15-3 run. Kills by Arthurs and freshman Ariel Turner helped break up the rally. Down 21-9, the Boilermakers put together a four-point run of their own. A Drewry kill started the run then Fisher pounded down three more to narrow the gap to eight at 21-13. The Illini scored four of the last five to wrap up the 25-14 win and the match. Fisher tallied four kills and two blocks in the stanza.
The Boilermakers (11-12, 3-9 Big Ten) return to action on Wednesday, when they take on the Indiana Hoosiers for the Monon Spike. The match will air live on the Big Ten Network.