CINCINNATI, Ohio - No. 24 Louisville snapped Purdue's 11-0 stranglehold on the all-time series, pulling off a sweep of the No. 11 Boilermakers to open the Big Ten/Big East Challenge on Friday.
The Cardinals won nearly every statistical category, although Purdue managed 53 digs to 51 by UofL and the teams tied in blocks at five apiece.
Seniors Ariel Turner and Anna Drewry paced the offense with nine kills apiece. Sophomore Val Nichol added six putaways, while redshirt junior Catherine Rebarchak and freshman Annie Drews chipped in four apiece. Drewry hit at a team-best .562 clip with nine kills in 16 swings with no errors. Drews hit .500 with four kills in six swings and just one miscue.
Defensively, three players managed double-digit dig tallies: redshirt juniors Carly Cramer (15) and Rachel Davis (11) and junior Hilliary Fox (11). Davis rounded out a double-double with 14 assists. Sophomore Kiki Jones paced the team at the net with four stuffs.
The teams split the first six points of the match, but Louisville surged ahead with a 6-0 run. The Boilermakers pulled within three at 9-6 on a Turner kill and a Cardinal miscue, but found themselves down seven at 17-10. A service error, a Turner putaway and a block by Rebarchak and Jones cut the margin to four, but UofL boosted the margin back to seven at 21-14. Purdue mounted a comeback, scoring five of the next seven points, including kills by Griffin, Nichol and Drewry, to make it 23-20. The teams traded service errors before Louisville closed it out at 25-21 with a kill.
Louisville jumped out to a 5-1 lead in Set 2 and hung on for a 25-17 win. The Boilermakers cut the margin to three at 15-12 after a Jones putaway and a Cardinal hitting error. UofL went up 20-13 with a 5-1 run, the lone Purdue score coming on a kill by rookie Annie Drews. Trailing 21-14, the Boilermakers put together a 3-0 run, featuring putaways by Drewry, Jones and Nichol, to prompt a Louisville timeout at 21-17. Purdue couldn't hold off the Cardinal attack, however, falling 25-17 after a block and three UofL kills.
Purdue trailed 7-3 to start Set 3, but rallied with 11 of the next 14 points to jump ahead 14-10. Blocks by Nichol and Jones and kills by Drews, Drewry, Nichol and Turner aided the cause. Cramer also had an ace in the rally. Louisville battled back to tie it up at 15, but the Boilermakers maintained the edge, leading 19-17 after a trio of kills by Rebarchak. The Cardinals took a timeout and scored the next four points out of the break to go ahead 21-19. The teams traded points over the next eight serves as Louisville clinched the 25-23 win. Drewry had two kills down the stretch, while Turner added one and Drews thwarted the first UofL match point attempt at 24-22. An unlucky bounce off a block set up Louisville's final kill, Lola Arslanbekova's 20th of the match. Drewry and Rebarchak tallied four kills apiece in the final stanza.
The No. 11 Boilermakers (5-2) look to regroup before facing the host Cincinnati Bearcats at 7 p.m. Saturday to close out the Big Ten/Big East Challenge.