Oct. 6, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Iowa Hawkeyes took a three-set match from the No. 12 Boilermaker volleyball team Saturday, capitalizing on a Purdue team without the services of libero Carly Cramer. Iowa won the match 25-23, 25-23, 25-18, snapping a four-match Purdue win streak in the series and giving the Hawkeyes their first win in West Lafayette since the 2000 season.
Senior Ariel Turner led the way for the Boilermakers with a 14-kill, 12-dig double double, while sophomore Kiki Jones added nine kills and senior Anna Drewry chipped in eight. True freshman Amanda Neill, who stepped into the libero role in sets 2 and 3, managed seven digs, while setter Rachel Davis added six. Drewry paced the team at the net with three blocks, while Turner added two.
The Hawkeyes bested Purdue in every statistical category. Alex Lovell led Iowa with 24 kills, while Rachael Bedell added 11.
Purdue scored three of the first four points of the night, on two Iowa miscues and a kill by Turner. Down 6-4, Iowa managed three straight points to take the lead at 7-6. The Boilermakers regained the edge at 9-8 on a kill by freshman Annie Drews, but the Hawkeyes went up by three at 12-9, prompting a Purdue timeout. After the break, Purdue narrowed the gap to one at 14-13 after a Turner kill and two Hawkeye errors., The see-saw battle swung Purdue's way as a block by Drews and Drewry put the home team ahead 17-16. Iowa took a 20-18 lead, but the Boilermakers answered with kills by Turner and Drews and an ace by redshirt senior Amanda Miller to make it 21-20. Iowa took a timeout and scored five of the next seven to clinch the set. A kill by Turner staved off one set-point attempt, but a Lovell putaway sealed it.
Turner pounded down nine kills in Set 2, but it was the Hawkeyes that took the 25-23 win. Iowa jumped out to a 5-1 lead, but Purdue clawed its way back, going ahead 11-9. The 10-4 run featured three Turner putaways, an ace and a kill by Jones and a stuff by Turner and Drewry. Purdue led by as many as three, last at 17-14, but the Hawkeyes scored eight of the next 10 to vault ahead 22-19 on a service ace. A stuff by Drewry and Turner and a kill by Turner knotted the score at 22. A pair of kills put Iowa on the hill, but another Turner putaway kept the set going. A hitting error gave the Hawkeyes the 2-0 lead in the match.
Drewry and Jones combined for 10 kills in 15 swings with just one error in the third set, but again Iowa bettered the Boilermakers, posting a .444 hitting percentage to Purdue's .270 effort and getting Lovell 10 kills. Purdue trailed 6-1 in the early goings, but cut the deficit to two at 6-4 after kills by Drewry and Turner and an ace by Gosewisch. The teams split the next four points to make it 8-6 Iowa, but the Hawkeyes turned in a 7-2 run to push the margin to seven at 15-8. Putaways by Drewry and Jones pulled the Boilermakers within five at 15-10, but the team would get no closer. Trailing 22-14, Drewry added two kills and redshirt junior Catherine Rebarchak chipped in one to make it 23-17, but a pair of Lovell putdowns capped the match, despite a Turner kill which fought of the first match-point attempt.
The No. 12 Boilermakers (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten) return to action at 8 p.m. ET Friday when they take on the No. 1 Penn State Nittany Lions in State College, Pa., live on the Big Ten Network.