Sept. 21, 2012
EAST LANSING, Mich. - The No. 17 Boilermaker volleyball team gutted out a five-set win over No. 25 Michigan State to open Big Ten play Friday night. Purdue came back from a 2-1 deficit, to take the match 18-25, 25-19, 24-26, 25-21, 17-15.
Senior Ariel Turner paced Purdue with a 23-kill, 17 dig double-double, while freshman Annie Drews added 12 kills with a .526 hitting effort.
Defensively, four players reached double digits, led by redshirt junior Carly Cramer, who pulled up 28 digs. Turner (17), redshirt junior Rachel Davis (13) and senior Courtney Gosewisch (12) rounded out the group. Davis wrapped up a double-double with 45 assists, while Cramer served up a team-best three aces. Purdue outblocked MSU 14-11, thanks in part to a six-block night by sophomore Val Nichol. Drews and senior Anna Drewry chipped in five stuffs apiece.
Purdue clinched the victory with a 17-15 Set 5 victory, The teams split the first 10 points of the set. MSU went up 6-5 on a kill, but the Boilermakers responded with a 5-0 run, including a solo block by Turner and a stuff by Drewry and Drews, to go ahead 10-6. The teams traded points over the next six serves, leading to a 13-9 Boilermaker advantage. MSU cut the margin to one at 13-12 with two blocks and a kill and Purdue used up both of its timeouts. A Jones putaway gave Purdue its first shot at the match at 14-12. A Spartan kill and a Boilermaker hitting error knotted the score at 14. An MSU miscue gave the Boilers their third match-point attempt, but a Spartans kill again thwarted the effort. A service error put Purdue on the hill again at 16-15 and an MSU hitting error clinched the match.
Michigan State led early and overcame a 13-10 deficit midway through Set 1 to take a 25-18 win. Down 5-2, Purdue rallied to go up 6-5 after a pair of Drews kills and a Cramer ace. The teams tied at 8-8, before the Boilermakers pulled away with five of the next seven points. Turner put down two kills and Nichol capped the run with a solo block. MSU countered with a 5-0 run to take a 15-13 lead and held Purdue at bay down the stretch en route to the win. The Boilermakers cut the margin to one five times, last at 19-18, but the Spartans capped the win with a 6-0 run including a trio of blocks.
Purdue bounced back in Set 2, leading from the halfway point on in a 25-19 victory to tie the match at a set apiece. The Boilermakers hit .303 in the stanza, while holding the Spartans to a .128 effort. Purdue led 8-4 early as Drewry and Jones each downed two kills. MSU tied it up at 9-9, but the Boilermakers pulled away, outscoring the Spartans 12-5 to go ahead 21-14. Purdue went up 15-12 after a Cramer ace and two Drews putaways. Michigan State was within one at 15-14, but the Boilermakers used a 6-0 run including two aces and two kills by Turner to go up by seven. MSU cut the margin to three at 21-18, but Purdue closed out the set with four of the final five points. A block by Drews and Drewry and a Nichol kill sealed it.
Michigan State overcame a 22-20 Boilermaker lead in Set 3 to snag a 26-24 victory. The Spartans finished out the set with a 6-2 run including four kills to go up two sets to one. The teams split the first 20 points of the set, but MSU went ahead 13-10, capitalizing on two Purdue miscues and block. The Boilermakers tied the score at 14 and 17, but could not break through. Down 19-17, Purdue managed a 5-1 run, including three MSU errors to go up 22-20. The Spartans closed it out from there.
Turner put down five kills and Drews added four, while Nichol stuff three balls in a 25-21 Purdue win in Set 4 to send the match to the decisive fifth set. Trailing 6-3, the Boilermakers scored five of the next six points to go ahead 8-7. Jones had an ace in the stretch and Turner pounded down two kills. MSU rallied to an 11-8 advantage, but Purdue countered with nine of the next 10 points to vault ahead 17-12. Cramer serve up an ace, while Drewry and Drews each added two kills in the stretch. The Spartans tied it up at 19, but Purdue would not the set slip away using a 5-1 run to go up 24-20. Nichol and Jones teamed up on a pair of blocks and Nichol added a solo stuff in the rally. An MSU service error capped the 25-21 win.
The No. 17 Boilermakers (10-2) return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday vs. Michigan in Ann Arbor.