Sept. 14, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 14 Boilermaker volleyball team got double-digit kill efforts from four different players and overcame a Set 2 letdown en route to a 3-1 win over Jacksonville State to kick off the Active Ankle Challenge in Mackey Arena Friday morning. Purdue won the match 25-16, 22-25, 25-19, 25-6.
Senior Ariel Turner led the offense with 15 kills, while sophomore Kiki Jones added a career-high 14, her first ever double-digit effort. Freshman Annie Drews chipped in 13, while sophomore Val Nichol added 10 kills to her 10 digs for a double-double.
Defensively, redshirt junior Carly Cramer pulled up a team-leading 21 digs to go with a career-best 12 assists for her first career double-double. Nichol added 10 digs, while seniors Amanda Miller and Courtney Gosewsich and redshirt junior Rachel Davis chipped in eight apiece. Gosewisch also served up a career-best four aces in the match. Jones and Drews paced Purdue at the net with four blocks apiece.
The Boilermakers ran off five straight points to start the match and held on to win by nine at 25-16, never allowing the Gamecocks closer than five points. Miller served up the first five points and Turner pounded two down for kills and Nichol chalked up a kill and a block. Purdue stretched its lead to eight at 11-3 on a kill by Drews. The teams split the next six points, before JSU put together a kill, a block and an ace to cut the margin to five at 14-9. The Boilermakers scored eight of the next 12 points, including an ace and two kills by Jones. Up 22-16, Purdue closed out the stanza with three straight points on a Drews kill, a block by Nichol and redshirt freshman Kaisley Fisher and a JSU hitting error.
Purdue led 7-4 in Set 2, but could not hold off the Gamecocks, who hit .314 in the stanza en route to a 25-22 win. JSU took the lead at 9-8, but a service error and a Nichol kill put the Boilermakers back on top 10-9. Jacksonville State rattled off nine of the next 12 points to go up 18-13. Purdue closed to within one at 19-18 after a run including a trio of kills by Jones and one by Drews. Down 22-19, kills by Rebarchak and Drews made it a one-point game again. A blocking error and a JSU kill gave the Gamecocks their first set point attempt. A Nichol kill thwarted that effort, but Hivya Leite ended the set with a putaway the following play. Drews had seven kills in the stanza, while Nichol added five.
The teams split the first 14 points of Set 3 before the Boilermakers claimed control, eventually winning by a 25-19 score. Purdue scored five straight to break the tie as two Turner kills, one from Drews and two JSU errors pushed the Boilermakers ahead 12-7. Four more Turner kills helped Purdue to a 19-10 advantage. Jacksonville State cut the lead to four at 22-18, but a kill and a block by Drews edged the Boilermakers closer to the win at 24-18. A Turner kill, her eighth of the stanza, clinched the Purdue win.
The Boilermakers closed out the match, blitzing the Gamecocks to the tune of a 25-6 score. Purdue held JSU to a -.120 hitting percentage, while posting a .500 effort of its own. Five players contributed kills in the stanza, led by Jones' five. Purdue jumped ahead 16-2 as Gosewisch and Turner handled duties at the service line. Gosewsich tallied four aces in the first eight points, while Jones tacked on three kills and two blocks as the Boilermakers' upped their lead to 14. A hitting error and a JSU kill slowed Purdue momentarily, but a service error kicked off a 5-0 run, including kills from Turner, Drews and freshman Sam Epenesa, as well as a stuff courtesy of Drews and senior Anna Drewry. A hitting error gave Jacksonville State its fifth point, but a Drewry putaway and another Drews/Drewry block put Purdue on the hill at 24-6. A Gamecock kill prolonged the match, but a service error gave the Boilermakers the match.
The No. 14 Boilermakers (7-2) close out Day 1 of the Active Ankle Challenge with a 7:30 p.m. match against UAB. The match, which will be played in Mackey Arena, will be streamed live on purduesports.com via the Big Ten Student U Initiative. Live audio will be available for free on purduesports.com.