Oct. 14, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 9 Penn State Nittany Lions stole a road win on Belin Court Friday night, topping No. 11 Purdue 3-1. Penn State won the match 32-30, 16-25, 25-19, 25-19 in a very even battle, which saw redshirt senior libero Blair Bashen tally her 1,000th career dig.
Junior Ariel Turner tallied 19 kills and added 14 digs to lead the Boilermakers. Senior Tiffany Fisher racked up 11 kills on a team-leading .526 hitting effort, while freshman Val Nichol and redshirt sophomore Catherine Rebarchak chipped in nine and eight putaways respectively.
Bashen led a group of four Boilermakers with double digit digs, pacing the team with 19. Turner (14), redshirt sophomore Rachel Davis (11) and senior Emily Ehlers (10) followed. Davis completed a double-double with 37 assists. Freshman Kierra Jones led Purdue at the net with six blocks, while also adding five kills.
The teams were fairly even statistically, tying in hitting percentage at .250 and being separated by just a few in kills (PSU 59-57), blocks (Purdue 8-7.5) and digs (PSU 65-64). Penn State did however serve up 10 aces to just three for the Boilermakers.
After a combined eight set point attempts, Penn State took the first stanza 32-30. Turner and Nichol each tallied six kills for Purdue, while Bashen picked up her 1,000th career dig in the stanza. The Boilermakers came out strong, scoring six of the first nine points. Three straight putaways by Nichol capped the run. Penn State narrowed the gap to one three times, last at 10-9, but Purdue jumped ahead by five at 15-10, with help from a trio of Nittany Lion miscues. Another kill from Nichol made it 16-11. PSU pulled within three four times over the next 10 serves, but putaways by Rebarchak and Turner made it 22-17 Purdue. The Nittany Lions scored five of the next six to make it 23-22. A PSU service error gave the Boilermakers their first shot at the set. A service error two points later gave them another chance. A kill and a block, however, let Penn State attempt to take it at 26-25. Kills by Jones and Turner and a hitting and service error kept Purdue ahead as the teams traded points.Down 30-29, PSU broke through with a pair of kills and an ace to swipe the set.
Purdue shook off Set 1 and dominated Set 2 from the midway point forward en routeto a 25-16 win to tie the match. After trailing 4-2, the Boilermakers broke off a 4-0 run, including a pair of kills and a block by Fisher. Purdue went on to lead 12-7 as Turner, Nichol and Fisher put down kills. PSU pulled within one at 123-11, but it was the Boilermakers' set from there. Purdue outscored the Nittany Lions 13-5 down the stretch, racking up aces by Ehlers, Fox and Fisher along the way. Fisher's ace capped the win, in which the Boilermakers outhit PSU .282 to .128 and Fisher and Turner each managed five kills.
The Nittany Lions lead Set 3 from start to finish in a 25-19 win. The teams split the first six points, but Penn State surged ahead to lead 15-8, including a 6-0 run to cap the rally. PSU led 20-12 when Purdue mounted a comeback, scoring five of the next seven to make it 22-17. Davis tallied a kill and a block during the stretch, which also featured a pair of Penn State miscues. The Nittany Lions scored three of the last five to close out the set, despite kills by Nichol and Turner, the latter of which staved off the first set point attempt.
The Boilermakers led for the first half of Set 4, but could not hold off the NIttany Lions attack and serving in a 25-19 loss. The teams split the first eight points of the set, but Purdue surged ahead 7-4 with help from kills by Fisher and Davis. The Boilermakers held PSU at bay, going up 11-8 on a Rebarchak putaway. The Nittany Lions took seven of the next nine points to turn the deficit into a 15-13 lead, one which they would not relinquish. A service error, one of 13 in the match for PSU, stopped the rally temporarily and a Turner kill kept Purdue close at 16-15, but the Nittany Lions got back on track with five straight points. A Rebarchak kill and a block by Jones and Turner narrowed the gap to four at 21-17, but Purdue would get no closer. A kill by Turner prolonged the set, denying PSU its first match point attempt, but a Maddie Martin kill capped the stanza.
No. 11 Purdue (15-3, 4-3 Big Ten) returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday when it faces No. 24 Ohio State.