Nov. 10, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Monon Spike travelling trophy will get another "P" link after the Boilermaker volleyball team's swept Indiana 3-0 Wednesday night in front of a Holloway Gymnasium record crowd of 2,588. The 29-27, 25-23, 25-18 victory secured Purdue the season series with the Hoosiers and broke the Boilermakers out of a four-way tie in the Big Ten Conference race. The attendance record mark surpassed the previous Belin Court best of 2,580 which was achieved on Nov. 20, 2009 against Penn State.
Junior Tiffany Fisher paced the Purdue offensive attack with 12 kills and also posted a team-best four blocks. Six other players contributed offensively, including a third-set kill by libero Carly Cramer. Senior Kristen Arthurs and sophomore Anna Drewry posted nine kills apiece, while sophomore Ariel Turner added seven. Senior setter Jaclyn Hart, who was celebrating her 22nd birthday, chipped in six kills in addition to registering a 36-assist, 11 dig double-double. Redshirt freshman Catherine Rebarchak tallied four kills to round out the offense, while also supplying three aces in the final stanza.
Defensively, Cramer posted a match-high 22 digs. Junior Emily Ehlers added 16 and Hart followed with 11. Redshirt junior Blair Bashen chipped in seven digs, while Rebarchak added six.
Purdue staved off two Indiana set-point attempts in the opening stanza and had three set-point chances of its own before finally taking the set 29-27. The Boilermakers opened the match with a 6-2 run, including two kills by Fisher and a solo block by Hart. The Hoosiers cut the margin to one at 6-5, but Purdue scored five of the next seven, including an ace by Turner, to push the margin back to four at 11-7. IU countered with a 4-0 run to tie it up, but Purdue would not relinquish control, instead countering with six of the next eight to go up 17-13. Four Indiana errors aided Purdue in the rally. The Hoosiers pulled within one at 19-18, but Boilermakers used kills by Arthurs and Drewry and a block by the duo to make it 23-18. IU charged back with a 6-0 run to reach set-point at 24-23. An Arthurs kill thwarted the effort and a Hoosier service error two plays later stopped another. A Rebarchak putaway gave Purdue its first shot at 26-25, but Indiana denied the win. A service error put the Boilermakers up 27-26, but IU answered with a kill. Back-to-back kills by Fisher, who posted eight in the stanza, finally secured the 29-27 win.
The Boilermakers chalked up six blocks and Hart posted four kills as Purdue stole a comeback win out of the Hoosiers grasp in Set 2. Indiana scored five of the first six points of the set and led 10-6 soon after. Rebarchak tallied a kill and combined on a pair of blocks with Fisher to narrow the gap to one at 10-9. The Hoosiers kept the lead, however, going up by four at 15-11. The Boilermakers kept fighting, scoring five of the next six to knot the score at 16. A pair of blocks by Arthurs, one with Hart and the other with Drewry, who also supplied a kill in the rally, brought about the score. Indiana led 21-19 after a couple of Purdue miscues, but the Boilermakers rallied with four straight points to surge ahead 23-21. Turner and Fisher added kills and Hart and Fisher put up a block as Purdue forced IU to use its final timeout. A hitting error slowed the rally temporarily, but Hart added two kills in the next three plays to cap the comeback win.
Purdue came out of the intermission with guns blazing, hitting at a match-high .273 clip and spreading the ball around with four players tallying three or more kills. Drewry led the way with five putdowns as the Boilermakers sealed the sweep with a 25-18 win. Purdue raced out to a 10-3 lead as Rebarchak served up a pair of aces and four players registered kills. Drewry and Arthurs each pounded down two kills and Rebarchak added another as the Boilermakers pushed their advantage to eight at 16-8. Indiana cut the lead in half with a 4-0 run, but Purdue responded with a Turner kill and another Rebarchak ace to make it 18-12. The Hoosiers pulled within four again at 20-16, but a pair of Drewry putdown, a Cramer set into the corner and an IU hitting error made it 24-17. Turner pounded in the final nail two plays later at 25-18.
The Boilermakers (17-9, 8-7 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday, when they take on the No. 24 Northwestern Wildcats.