Sept. 22, 2012
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The Boilermaker volleyball picked up another key Big Ten road victory with a five-set win over Michigan Saturday night. Purdue came back from a 2-1 deficit en route to the 23-25, 25-17, 23-25, 25-18, 15-10 win. Redshirt junior Carly Cramer picked up her 1,000th career dig with her final save in Set 5 of the match.
Senior Ariel Turner paced the Boilermakers with a 23-kill, 13-dig double-double, while also serving up two aces. Freshman Annie Drews added 12 kills and a team-leading six aces, while senior Anna Drewry chalked up 10 kills and five blocks. Sophomore Kierra Jones put down nine kills, was in on five stuffs and served two aces.
Defensively, four Boilermakers reached double-digits, led by Cramer's 19. Redshirt junior Rachel Davis added 16 digs to her 50 assists for a double-double. Turner (13) and redshirt senior Amanda Miller (11) followed, while senior Courtney Gosewisch managed eight digs. Miller also served up two aces for Purdue.
The Boilermakers outdid the Wolverines in nearly every statistical category, including an 11.5-5 margin at the net.
Purdue took an early 4-3 edge in Set 5 after a trio of Turner kills and one from Jones. Michigan went ahead 6-4 after two kills and block. Putaways by Turner and Drewry made it 6-6, but the Wolverines soon led 9-7 prompting a Boilermaker timeout. Out of the break, Purdue outscored Michigan 8-1 to close out the victory. Drewry downed two more kills, Drews added a solo stuff and UM errors piled up in the rally. A Turner putaway provided the clincher at 15-10.
Michigan led by eight midway through Set 1, going ahead 13-5 after a series of Purdue miscues and a pair of aces. The Boilermakers played their way back into it with a 5-0 run, including kills by Turner and Drewry and a stuff by Drewry and Drews. The teams split the next eight points, but a pair of Wolverine kills made it 19-14 UM. Purdue again rallied, capitalizing on three Michigan miscues and a Drews/Drewry block to tie the score at 19. The Boilermakers took a brief lead at 22-21 after a kill by Drewry and a Michigan miscue, but the Wolverines closed out the set with a 4-1 run, including three Purdue errors.
Turner downed eight kills in Set 2 and Purdue outhit the Wolverines .355 to .135 en route to a 25-17 win. Michigan led 4-1 and held a two-point advantage at 8-6, before the Boilermakers took over the set. Purdue vaulted into an 18-10 lead with a 12-2 run featuring a solo stuff and two kills by Drews, an ace by Cramer and help from Turner. The Wolverines would get no closer than seven the rest of the way. A Michigan service error gave Purdue its first shot at the set at 24-16 and Drews closed it out two serves later with her sixth kill of the night.
Purdue raced out to a 9-2 lead in Set 3, thanks to three kills and two aces by Turner, but Michigan charged back with a 9-2 run of its own to knot the score at 11. Purdue went up by three against a 14-11 after kills from Nichol, Drews and Turner, but the Wolverines rallied again with a 9-3 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Boilermakers tied it up at 20 on an ace by Jones, but couldn't stop UM from taking the 25-23 win. Michigan outhit Purdue .231 to .114 in the set.
Michigan carried the momentum into Set 4, taking an early 7-5 lead, but Purdue quickly turned the tables with a 12-3 run to go ahead 17-10 and force the Wolverines to use both of their timeouts. Drewry and Turner each pounded down a pair of kills and Jones teamed up on two blocks in the run. Michigan cut the margin to five at 20-15. A UM error and an ace by Jones pushed it back to 22-15 Purdue. The Wolverines made it a five-point game again at 23-18, but a Drewry kill and an ace by Miller sent the match to a decisive fifth set.
The No. 17 Boilermakers (11-2, 2-0 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they welcome Northwestern to Belin Court to kick off a four-match homestand.