Nov. 23, 2011
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The Monon Spike travelling trophy will reside in West Lafayette for the fourth-straight season after No. 8 Purdue battled back from a one-set deficit en route to a 3-1 win over Indiana Wednesday night. The Boilermakers took the match 22-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-16.
Junior Ariel Turner piled up 25 kills, eight digs and three blocks in the victory. Freshman Kierra Jones added nine kills and three blocks, while senior Tiffany Fisher followed with six kills and a team-leading six blocks and an ace. Redshirt sophomore Katie Griffin added four kills.
Redshirt senior Blair Bashen led the defense with 16 digs followed by Turner (8), senior Emily Ehlers (7), Fisher (6), redshirt sophomore Rachel Davis (6) and redshirt junior Amanda Miller (5). Bashen served up three aces, while Ehlers added two and Fisher posted one.
The Boilermakers outhit the Hoosiers .268 to .146 and outblocked IU 9-4, while serving up six aces to four.
Indiana led Set 1 from start to finish, save one tie at 7-7. The Hoosiers took a 4-1 lead in the opening set, but Purdue charged back to tie the score at 7-7 on an ace by Fisher. Kills by Nichol and Turner rounded out the Boilermaker rally. The Hoosiers pushed ahead to a 16-12 advantage at the first timeout. Purdue scored three straight out of the break with an IU miscue, a kill by Nichol and a block by Davis and Jones. Indiana countered with a 3-0 run of its own to make it 19-15 and prompt a second Boilermaker timeout. Purdue pulled within one at 22-21 with six of the next nine points, capped by a kill and solo block by Fisher. The Hoosiers, however, managed the 25-22 win.
The Boilermakers poured on the offense in Set 2, outhitting the Hoosiers .421 to .207, en route to a 25-19 win. Purdue took the early lead, scoring three of the first four, including a set-opening ace by Ehlers, and pushed ahead by three at 11-8 forcing an Indiana timeout. Another Turner kill put Purdue up by four at 12-8. The Hoosiers made it a two-point game at 13-11, but Purdue stretched the lead to four at 16-12 after two more Turner putaways. IU scored three straight to cut the lead to one at 16-15 and eventually tied it up at 18. The Boilermakers closed out the set with a 7-1 run, including aces by Ehlers and Bashen and a solo block by Fisher. Turner pounded down nine kills in the set.
Purdue carried the momentum into Set 2, racing out to a 10-5 lead and never looking back in a 25-16 win. The Boilermakers hit .304 in the set , while holding Indiana to a .057 effort. Turner, Griffin and Jones tallied kills and Bashen added an ace en route to the advantage. After two Hoosier points, Purdue rattled off six straight, including five IU errors, to boost the advantage to nine at 16-7. Indiana closed to within five at 20-15, but that sparked a 5-1 Boilermaker run to wrap up the set. A trio of IU miscues bookended by kills by Davis and Jones capped the stanza.
The Boilermakers closed out the Monon Spike victory with a 25-16 win in Set 4, which saw Purdue spread the ball around offensively as Turner, Jones, Griffin and Fisher tallied putaways. Indiana scored the opening point, but Purdue built a quick 9-4 lead, behind kills by Turner and Griffin and an ace by Bashen. The Hoosiers narrowed the margin to one at 9-8, but Purdue surged ahead to a 16-9 advantage. A pair of kills and a block by Jones helped the Boilermakers in the run, which forced Indiana to use its final timeout. Purdue went up by 10 at 22-12 as Indiana errors piled up and Fisher and Turner pounded down kills. Trailing 23-13, the Hoosiers managed two points to extend the set. Another Fisher kill made it 24-15. A service error kept the match going, but Davis put down a second-hit attempt for the win.
The Boilermakers (26-4, 15-4 Big Ten) wrap up the regular season at 8 p.m. (ET) Friday, when they take on the Wisconsin Badgers in Madison.