Nov. 13, 2009
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Boilermaker volleyball team rallied from two sets down and held off six match-point attempts before finally succumbing to No. 14 Michigan Friday night. The Wolverines won the match 25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 22-25, 18-16.
"We put together a pretty good match tonight; unfortunately, Michigan was in control for most of game 5 and we had to play catch up," head coach Dave Shondell said. "But, you can't be anything but proud when your team is down 14-9 in the fifth set and comes back. We showed great heart and determination tonight. We played the 14th-ranked team in country on their home floor and took them to the wire. We were a team trying to find itself and we took a big step in that direction tonight."
Junior Kristen Arthurs put down 13 kills to lead a quartet of Boilermakers with double-digit efforts. Senior Carrie Gurnell and freshmen Ariel Turner and Anna Drewry rounded out the group with 11 kills apiece. Drewry hit at a match-high .529 clip, while junior Jaclyn Hart tacked on seven kills at a .455 clip.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen led the way with 17 digs. Sophomore Emily Ehlers pulled up 16 digs, while Hart added 14 to her 46 assist effort for a double-double. Freshman Courtney Gosewisch chipped in nine digs. At the net, Arthurs put up eight blocks, while sophomore Tiffany Fisher added seven, including four solo efforts, and Drewry recorded six stuffs. Hart was credited with five blocks, including one solo effort, as Purdue outblocked Michigan 19.5 to 11.
The Boilermakers scored the first two points of the deciding fifth set on a kill and a solo block by Arthurs. Michigan countered with six straight points and led 8-4 at the changeover. Purdue cut the margin to one at 9-8 after a Gurnell kill and a Drewry overpass putaway. The Wolverines scored five of the next six points to go up 14-9. With their backs against a wall, facing five match point attempts, the Boilermakers buckled down and thwarted all five efforts. Kills from Gurnell, Turner and Drewry, a Michigan hitting error and a stuff by Drewry and Arthurs knotted the score at 14-14. A kill gave the Wolverines another shot at the match, but an Arthurs kill evened the score again and a Michigan hitting error put Purdue in the driver's seat at 16-15. UM would score three in a row on an overpass kill, a block and a kill to escaped with the 18-16 win.
Michigan took a 6-3 lead in Set 1, but Purdue used back-to-back blocks, a solo stuff by Hart and a combined effort by Hart and Drewry, to pull within one at 6-5. The Wolverines raised their advantage to six at 15-9, but again the Boilermakers came charging back, slicing the margin to one with a 5-0 run. Kills from Arthurs and Fisher as well as a pair of blocks aided the comeback, making it 15-14. Michigan closed out the set with a 10-3 run. A pair of aces capped a run of five straight for the Wolverines in the 25-17 win. Purdue put up 5.5 blocks in the set.
The Boilermakers kicked off the second set with an ace by Ehlers and went on to lead 9-6 after kills by four different players. Turner, Arthurs, Gurnell and Hart all got in on the action. Purdue maintained its edge at 12-9, but the Wolverines scored six of the next eight to go up 15-14 and force a Boilermaker timeout. Purdue regained the edge at 18-17 after a kill by Arthurs and an ace by Bashen. The teams tied at 18, 19, 20 and 21 before an ace put Michigan on top 22-21. A service error, a kill by Drewry and a UM hitting miscue put the Boilermakers one point away from the set at 24-22. The Wolverines, however, snatched the 26-24 victory with four straight, including two blocks and two Purdue hitting errors.
Purdue capitalized on UM errors to start the third set with a 3-1 lead, including a block and a kill by Fisher. Ties at 5, 11 and 12 followed, but the Boilermakers scored five of the next six to go up 17-13. Kills by Drewry, Arthurs and Hart helped Purdue to the advantage. Michigan would cut the margin to two several times, but could get no closer. A Wolverine error and a kill by Arthurs put Purdue on the hill at 24-21. A hitting error kept the set going, but a solo stuff by Hart clinched the 25-22 Boilermaker win to keep the match going. Arthurs and Drewry each tallied four kills in the set, which saw Purdue hold Michigan to a negative hitting effort (-.059).
Michigan led 9-6 early in Set 4, but Purdue used an 8-3 run to turn the deficit into a 14-12 advantage. Drewry tallied two kills a block, while Turner, Arthurs and Fisher also chipped in during the rally. The Boilermakers scored three straight to stretch their lead to four at 19-15 and force the Wolverines to use their final timeout. After the break, Purdue pushed its advantage to five at 23-18 after a pair of Turner putdowns and an ace by Bashen. Michigan countered with three straight, but a kill by Turner, her fifth of the set gave Purdue its first shot at the set at 24-21. A UM kill thwarted the first effort, but a hitting error sent the match to a deciding fifth set care of a 25-22 Boilermaker victory. Purdue racked up five blocks in the stanza.
The Boilermakers (12-14, 4-11 Big Ten) return to action at 6:30 p.m. Saturday when they take on the Michigan State Spartans in East Lansing.