Sept. 3, 2010
PITTSBURGH - The youngsters led the way as the Boilermaker volleyball team picked up its second sweep of the day as Purdue handed the host Pittsburgh Panthers a 25-18, 25-13, 25-20 loss Friday night, marking the 700th win in Purdue lore. Redshirt freshmen Katie Griffin and Catherine Rebarchak along with sophomore Ariel Turner paced the offense, while sophomore Carly Cramer led the defensive effort.
"I thought the key tonight was our serving and the play of Griffin and Rebarchak," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We played pretty well. We are still susceptible to runs, but we are happy to have won six consecutive games today. If we can prevent teams from winning matches for reasons other than those teams being better than us, we will win a lot of matches this season."
Griffin posted a career-best 12 kills on a .348 hitting effort. Rebarchak hit at a team-leading .500 clip while registering 11 kills, a tally also matched by Turner.
Cramer posted a match-high 14 digs, while junior Emily Ehlers pulled up 13 digs. At the net, senior Kristen Arthurs led the way with five blocks as the Boilermakers frustrated the Panthers into a .019 hitting effort for the match.
The Boilermakers posted 469 wins under Hall of Fame coach Carol Dewey, 45 under Joey Vrazel, 44 under Jeff Hulsmeyer and 142 thus far in the Dave Shondell era.
Purdue scored three of the first four points in the match, thanks to kills by Rebarchak and Turner and a Pitt error. A pair of Griffin putaways pushed the advantage to 8-6. Pitt scored four in a row to take the lead at 10-8, but Purdue shook off the rally and managed 12 of the next 15 points to turn the deficit into a 20-13 lead. The Boilermakers forced the Panthers to utilize both of their timeouts during the stretch, which included four Pitt miscues and three Turner kills. The teams split the next 10 points leading to the 25-18 score. Junior Tiffany Fisher served up an ace to make it 23-16. A Pitt service error and a kill by Rebarchak clinched the set. Turner had five kills in the stanza, while Rebarchak added four.
The Boilermakers jumped out to an 11-3 advantage in Set 2, capped by a 5-0 run, which included a trio of Panther miscues. Cramer served up an ace in the opening stages, then Hart added another as Purdue pushed ahead 16-4. Pitt narrowed the gap to 10 at 19-9, but would get no closer as Purdue cruised to a 25-13 win. A Griffin kill and a block by Rebarchak and Arthurs made it 24-12, before a Rebarchak putaway sealed the victory. Griffin racked up six kills on seven swings in the stanza.
Pitt took the early lead in the final set and challenged Purdue throughout the stanza. Trailing 2-1, the Boilermakers scored seven of the next nine to turn the deficit into an 8-4 lead. Fisher served up an ace and Griffin added two kills during the run. Pittsburgh cut the margin to one at 12-11, but the Boilermakers broke off a 7-2 rally to make it a six-point spread at 19-13. Griffin posted two kills and a block, while Hart contributed a block and an ace in the stretch. Trailing by eight at 22-14 after a block by Arthurs and Rebarchak and a kill by Turner, the Panthers mounted a comeback. Pitt scored six of the next seven points to pull within three at 23-20 and force Purdue to use its first timeout of the night. After the break, Rebarchak pounded a kill and Pitt hit the final ball out of bounds to wrap up the sweep at 25-20. Rebarchak posted five kills in the stanza, whie Turner and Griffin each added four.
The Boilermakers (4-1) wrap up their stay in Pittsburgh with a 1 p.m. Saturday contest against Tulane.