Oct. 15, 2011
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 11 Boilermaker volleyball team downed No. 24 Ohio State 3-1 Saturday night, sparked by a pair of freshmen. Rookie outside hitter Val Nichol put down eight kills in the last two sets, while middle blocker Kierra Jones picked up six blocks in the stanzas to lift Purdue to a 25-16, 18-25, 25-16, 25-20 win.
The Boilermakers stifled the Buckeyes at the net, forcing OSU to hit just .181 as they posted 17 blocks to Ohio State's 8, while also outdoing the Buckeyes from the service line with six aces to two.
Junior Ariel Turner was steady as always, pacing the team with 18 kills, while adding three solo blocks and an ace. Senior Tiffany Fisher chipped in 10 kills, three aces and four blocks, followed by Nichol's eight kill night. Redshirt sophomore Catherine Rebarchak added five kills and five blocks.
Redshirt senior Blair Bashen led the backcourt defense with 16 digs, followed by redshirt sophomore Rachel Davis' tally of 13. Davis rounded out her night with 41 assists and four blocks. Jones led the Boilermakers at the net with six stuffs, while Rebarchak and junior Anna Drewry each added five.
The Boilermakers put up five blocks and served up four aces in the first stanza en route to a 25-16 win. Purdue took an early 6-3 lead as Fisher downed three kills and Turner served up an ace. The Buckeyes took a brief lead at 9-8, but that sparked a 5-0 Boilermaker run. Drewry and Rebarchak put up a pair of blocks in the stretch, which put Purdue on top 13-9 and also saw senior Emily Ehlers serve up an ace. The Boilermakers built a six-point lead at 20-14 after a pair of aces, a block and a kill by Fisher. OSU managed two of the next three points, but Purdue closed out the set at 25-16 with four straight points. Kills by Griffin and Turner and a Buckeye hitting error set up the final point, which came on a stuff by Drewry and Rebarchak.
Ohio State evened the match at a set apiece with a 25-18 Set 2 victory which included five blocks and saw OSU outhit Purdue .367 to .152. The Buckeyes led the entire set, including an eight-point advantage at one stage of the stanza. After taking an early 8-3 lead and forcing Purdue to use its first timeout, Fisher tallied a kill to make it a four-point game, but the Boilermakers would get no closer. Down by eight at 22-14, Purdue made a late charge with three of the next four points, including kills by Turner and Rebarchak, but it was not enough.
Seven team blocks and five kills from Nichol pushed Purdue to a 25-16 Set 3 win. The Boilermakers came out of intermission on fire, going up 7-2 with help from four blocks, including two solo efforts by Turner. Purdue pushed its lead to 10 at 16-6 as Davis and Jones combined on a pair of blocks and Nichol capped the rally with three straight putaways. The teams traded points over the next 16 serves leading to a 24-14 score. Nichol added two more kills in the stretch as did Rebarchak and Fisher. OSU thwarted Purdue first two set point attempts, but Jones pounded down the final kill in the set.
Purdue wrapped up the match with six kills from Turner, a pair of aces and four more blocks in a 24-20 fourth set win. After falling behind 4-3, Purdue was off to the races with an 11-2 run. Four Buckeye errors plus a trio of blocks, all involving Jones, helped propel the Boilermakers to the 14-6 advantage. An OSU service error, an ace from Ehlers and a Turner putaway made it 17-8, but the set was far from over. The Buckeyes narrowed the gap to one at 20-19 with an 11-3 rally as Kelli Barhorst and Mariah Booth heated up. An Ohio State service error snapped the rally after a Purdue timeout and Fisher tacked on her third ace of the night to make it 22-19 Boilermakers. The fabulous freshmen closed out the night with the final three points. Jones added a kill, then combined on a block with her classmate, before Nichol issued the final blow.
Saturday night's match will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 19.
The No. 11 Boilermakers (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they take on Indiana in a Black Out match.