Aug. 28, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In the tradition of epic Mortar Board Premier title matches, Saturday night's battle between the Purdue volleyball team and No. 24 Northern Iowa came down to the wire and kept fans on the edge of their seats. Unfortunately for the Boilermaker faithful, Purdue wound up on the short end of 25-18, 21-25, 25-22, 23-25, 17-19 score in the contest which featured five match-point chances.
Junior Tiffany Fisher led all hitters with 17 kills and sophomore Ariel Turner racked up 13 as both earned all-tournament team honors. Senior Kristen Arthurs and sophomore Anna Drewry each take on 10 putdowns. Drewry also led the team at the net with six blocks, while Fisher and Turner each managed four stuffs.
Redshirt junior Blair Bashen paced the Purdue backcourt with 25 digs to go with her two service aces. Junior Emily Ehlers pulled up 15 digs, while sophomore Carly Cramer added nine. Turner tacked on eight digs to the team's tally.
After watching the fourth set slip away, the Boilermakers found themselves on the short end of 6-1 score to start Set 5. The team collected itself and narrowed the gap to three at 7-4 after back-to-back kills by Fisher. UNI raised the margin to 10-5 forcing a Purdue timeout, but the Boilermakers rallied after the break, prompting the Panthers to utilize both of their timeouts en route to a 13-all tie. Drewry had a pair of kills and two blocks in the stretch, while freshman Katie Griffin and senior Jaclyn Hart also aided the offense. Northern Iowa had the first chance at the match at 14-13, but a block by Drewry and Arthurs kept Purdue alive. A service ace by Bashen put Purdue on the hill at 15-14, but a service error leveled the score. Facing a 16-15 deficit, Turner knotted the score with a putaway. A service error nullified Purdue's next shot at the match, but UNI echoed the effort to bring things to a 17-17 tie. Kills by all-tournament player Michelle Burrow and tournament MVP Bre Payton finally closed the door on the Boilermakers' upset bid.
Purdue started the night firing on all cylinders against the 24th-ranked Panthers, jumping out to a 6-1 margin. Bashen served up an ace and UNI contributed three other errors to the Boilermaker cause. Northern Iowa crept back into the set, slicing the margin to three at 9-6. Purdue would score 10 of the next 14 points, however, including six on UNI miscues, to take a commanding 19-10 lead. The Panthers would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. A service error made it 24-16 Purdue, but UNI thwarted the next two points with a kill and a block before Fisher pounded down the final point.
Northern Iowa owned the early lead in Set 2, going up 5-1 before Purdue could manage a comeback. Fisher and Hart each tallied a kill and combined for a block as the Boilermakers knotted things up at 5-5, marking the first of 14 ties in the set. The teams traded points from there on, leading to the last knot-up at 18-18. The biggest lead of the stretch came when UNI led 17-15 only to have kills by Drewry and Griffin nullify the advantage and a hitting error put Purdue up 18-17. The Panthers tied it up at 18 and went on to score seven of the next 10 points en route to a 25-21 win.
After intermission, Purdue was back on track with a 6-2 advantage in the third set, prompting UNI to use an early timeout. The Panthers narrowed the gap and eventually tie it up at 9-9. The Boilermakers pushed the margin to 13-10 after a trio of Northern Iowa miscues and a kill by Arthurs. UNI used an ace and four kills to turn the deficit into a 16-15 lead of its own. Drewry then took over, pushing Purdue back on top 19-17 with two kills and two block assists. A pair of hitting errors and a block put Northern Iowa up 20-19, but the Boilermakers countered. Kills from Arthurs, Fisher and Turner snapped three late ties. Another Fisher putaway made it 24-22 and forced a UNI timeout. The pause did nothing to stop Fisher who capped the set with her fifth kill of the 25-22 stanza.
The see-saw battle continued in Set 4 as Northern Iowa seized an 8-4 lead in the early goings. Purdue shook it off, however, scoring six of the next seven on three Panther errors, a solo block and kill from Turner and a putaway by Hart to make it 10-9. The Boilermakers built a three-point advantage at 14-11 after a pair of blocks by Turner and Fisher and again led by three at 15-12 and 16-13. Northern Iowa scored five of the next eight to cut the margin to 19-18, but a kill by Arthurs and two more from Fisher put Purdue on top 22-18. UNI scored four straight, three on kills by Amy Braun, to knot the score at 22-22. A service error put the Boilermakers up 23-22, but a pair of kills and a block allowed the Panthers to even the match at two sets apiece and force the deciding fifth set.
The Boilermakers (2-1) return to action at 11 a.m. Friday when they take on Lipscomb at the Pittsburgh Invitational.