Oct. 9, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Boilermaker volleyball team used strong net play, a balanced and efficient offense and tough serving to sweep Ohio State Saturday night. Purdue won the match 25-22, 25-18, 26-24 and topped the Buckeyes in all major statistical categories.
Sophomore Ariel Turner led the way with 13 kills and eight digs, but she had lots of help offensively as three other players added more than seven putaways. Junior Tiffany Fisher added 10 kills and two aces, while senior Kristen Arthurs chipped in eight kills on a team-best .615 hitting effort and a team-leading six blocks. Senior setter Jaclyn Hart registered seven kills, five digs and four blocks, while guiding the offense to a .323 hitting efficiency.
Defensively, libero Carly Cramer pulled up 10 digs, while Turner added eight, junior Emily Ehlers dug up six and Fisher and Hart chipped in five apiece.
Turner racked up eight kills and Purdue hit .433 in the stanza en route to a 25-22 first set victory. The Boilermakers wasted no time building an advantage, jumping out to a 7-1 lead in the stanza, forcing an OSU timeout, and pushed their edge to eight at 10-2 moments later. Turner tallied four kills in the stretch, while Ehlers and Bashen served up aces. Trailing 11-3, Ohio State scored three of the next four points to cut the margin to six at 12-6. Purdue increased its lead to eight at 15-7 after a kill by Arthurs and a block involving the senior and redshirt freshman Katie Griffin. The Buckeyes pulled within four at 20-16. Seven serves later an OSU block made it a three-point game at 23-20 and prompting a Purdue timeout. A Buckeye service error gave Purdue the first point out of the break and the first shot at the set, but a kill by Anna Szerszen and an ace kept the match going. A Fisher putaway finally capped the 25-22 win.
Five different Boilermakers contributed two or more kill and the team put up six blocks while holding OSU to a .000 hitting effort in a 25-18 Set 2 victory. Purdue scored three of the first four points, one on an Arthurs putaway and two on Buckeye miscues. Ohio State rallied to tie the score at 5-5, but it was nearly all Boilermakers after that point. Purdue surged ahead with seven of the next eight points to take a 12-6 advantage. Turner, Fisher, Girffin and Arthurs contributed kills, while Fisher served up an ace to cap the run. The Buckeyes made it a three-point game at 15-12 and again at 16-13, but that sparked a 3-0 Boilermaker run as Fisher pounded down two kills and combined on a block with Hart. Purdue boosted its lead to seven at 22-15 after back to back blocks by Arthurs, one with Hart and another with Rebarchak. OSU scored three straight, prompting a Boilermaker timeout, but Purdue answered with three straight points out of the break to clinch the win. Back to back blocks by Arthurs, including Griffin and Turner, and an Ohio State hitting error wrapped up the stanza.
Fisher and Hart tallied five kills apiece as Purdue gutted out a 26-24 victory to cap the sweep. Ohio State scored first in the set, but the lead was short-lived as Purdue managed four of the next five to take a 4-2 lead of its own. Turner, Fisher and Hart chipped in kills in the mini-rally. After ties at four and five, the Boilermakers used a 6-2 run, including an ace by Fisher and kills by Hart, Griffin, Rebarchak and even Cramer, to go up 11-7. Purdue pushed the advantage to seven at 20-13, forcing OSU to use both of its timeouts in the process. Fisher tallied three putaways, while the Buckeyes contributed four points via errors. Trailing 20-13 after its second timeout, Ohio State scored four straight to slice the margin to three at 20-17. An over-the-net call stopped the rally momentarily, but the Buckeyes eventually tied the score at 23-23. Purdue took a timeout to regroup and Hart tapped down a kill to set up the Boilermakers' first try at match point. A Szerszen kill knotted the score once again, but a Fisher putdown and a joust won by Hart sealed the 26-24 victory.
The Boilermakers (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) return to action on Friday when they take on No. 6 Illinois in Champaign.