Nov. 21, 2009
Shondell on the play of his seniors
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - It was a big night for the Boilermaker seniors as Purdue downed Ohio State 3-1 Saturday night in the final home match of their careers. Outside hitter Carrie Gurnell eclipsed the 1,000 kill mark, while pacing the team with 20 kills and adding nine digs. Outside hitter/setter Sam Ainsworth pounded down four kills and added three blocks in her third start of the season.
Freshman Ariel Turner and sophomore Tiffany Fisher joined Gurnell in double-digits with kill tallies of 12 and 11 respectively. Junior Jaclyn Hart narrowly missed a double-double with nine kills and 48 assists, while freshman Anna Drewry chipped in seven kills and a match-high eight blocks.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore Blair Bashen led the way with 18 digs. Gurnell added nine, while sophomore Emily Ehlers and freshman Carly Cramer each pulled up eight. Ehlers also served up two aces.
The Boilermakers owned the first half of the opening set, taking an early 3-0 lead and going on to lead 8-5. A block by Gurnell and Drewry and back-to-back aces by Ehlers accounted for the first three points. Three OSU miscues coupled with kills by Fisher and Hart brought about the latter score. The Buckeyes scored five of the next six points to go ahead 10-9. After a tie at 10, Ohio State pushed its advantage to five at 17-12. Purdue chipped away, cutting the margin to one at 22-21 after an overpass kill by Gurnell and an ace by Bashen. The Buckeyes got the first shot at the set at 24-22, but a Gurnell kill and a block by Fisher and Turner knotted the score at 24. A Kristen Dozier kill set OSU up again, but a Fisher putaway thwarted the effort. A stuff by Drewry and Turner put Purdue on the hill at 26-25. A Buckeye kill kept the set going, but a Turner kill and a block by Turner and 5-foot-6 defensive specialist Carly Cramer, who was in the front row after the Boilermakers used up its substitutions. Gurnell racked up six kills in the 28-26 win.
Purdue led the second set front start to finish, allowing only a tie at 1-1 and boasting an advantage of as many as seven. The Boilermakers started the stanza with an 11-5 lead as Hart racked up three kills and senior Sam Ainsworth chipped in two. A solo stuff by Drewry capped the early rally. OSU cut the deficit to four at 13-9, but Purdue pushed ahead to a 17-10 margin after two Buckeye miscues and kills from Fisher and Hart. Ohio State crept back into the game, pulling within one at 19-18. A kill and a block by Drewry and Gurnell made it a three-point game, but OSU countered with a pair of kills. The Boilermaker seniors, Gurnell and Ainsworth put down kills to stretch the Purdue lead to 23-20. A Purdue error and an OSU putaway kept things going. Ainsworth tallied another kill to make it 24-22 Boilermakers, and Gurnell put the final nail in the 25-23 win two serves later. The senior duo and Hart tallied four kills apiece as Purdue outhit the Buckeyes .469 to .243 in the set.
The Boilermakers led 4-2 in the third set after a pair of Gurnell kills and another from Drewry, but OSU quickly charged back to go up 5-4. Purdue tied it up at five and six, but soon trailed the Buckeyes by six at 13-6. Gurnell then tallied her 1,000th career kill to kick off a Boilermaker rally including four killls off her hand, which pulled Purdue within four at 15-11. Down 17-11, an OSU service error and a Turner putaway made it a four-point game again, but that is as close as the Boilermakers would come. Ohio State won the set 25-16. Gurnell racked up six kills in the set, but the Buckeyes outhit Purdue .591 to .231 in the stanza.
Set four again belonged to the Boilermakers. Purdue jumped out to a 9-3 advantage as Fisher put down three kills and contributed on a block. Three Buckeye errors and a solo block by Drewry also aided in the run. OSU cut the margin to three at 15-12, prompting a Boilermaker timeout. Purdue scored three of the next five points, two on Gurnell kills and another by Drewry to go up 18-14. Ohio State scored seven of the next nine to vault into the lead at 21-20. The Boilermakers countered with five of the next eight points, two on Hart putaways, to regain the lead at 25-24. A Buckeye kill thwarted Purdue's first match point attempt, but back-to-back blocks clinched the 27-25 win. A solo block from Drewry and a combined effort by Fisher and Ainsworth capped the victory. Purdue posted a .310 hitting percentage in the stanza, while Gurnell and Fisher each tallied five kills and Turner added four.
The Boilermakers (13-16, 5-13 Big Ten) wrap up the regular season at Iowa and Wisconsin next weekend.