Nov. 8, 2012
IOWA CITY, Iowa - The No. 21 Boilermakers got revenge for a midseason loss by sweeping the Iowa Hawkeyes 25-20, 25-11, 25-21 Thursday night. Purdue picked up its 10th Big Ten win of the season with the sweep and edges within one win of the 20-win milestone.
Purdue outdid Iowa in nearly every statistical category, outhitting the Hawkeyes .340 to .118, outblocking UI 5-1 and posting 52 digs to Iowa's 45.
Senior Ariel Turner racked up 14 kills, while sophomores Val Nichol and Kiki Jones added 13 and 8, respectively. Nichol and Jones had just one error apiece, hitting over .500 on the night at .632 and .538 respectively.
Redshirt junior Carly Cramer pulled up a team-best 15 digs and freshman Amanda Neill added 11 to pace the defense. Redshirt junior Rachel Davis and Turner added seven digs apiece. Jones led Purdue at the net with three blocks, while senior Anna Drewry added two including a solo stuff.
The Boilermakers overcame a 12-7 deficit in Set 1, rallying to a 25-20 win thanks in part to seven kills by Turner. A block by Drewry and Rebarchak kicked off a 6-1 run, which got things rolling for the Boilers and knotted the score at 13. Turner pounded down three kills in the stretch and Davis picked up her first putaway of the night. A Hawkeye kill slowed Purdue momentarily, but a hitting error sparked another 6-0 run for the Boilermakers, making it 19-14. Turner served up five points, including an ace, in the run, which also saw Jones pick up a solo stuff. The teams split the next six points to make it 22-17. Iowa managed three of the next four points of Purdue miscues, but kills by Turner and Jones sealed the win.
The Boilermakers raced out to a 10-5 lead in Set 2 and never looked back in a 25-11 win. Purdue hit .600 in the set, while limiting the Hawkeyes to a .037 effort. Nichol and Turner each put down five kills, while Jones added three. After a tie at 3-3, Purdue catapulted ahead thanks to a trio of kills and a solo stuff by Nichol. Iowa made it a three-point game at 10-7, but putaways by Nichol, Drewry and Turner made it 13-7. Up 14-10 soon after, the Boilermakers put together an 8-0 run with Neill at the service line. The stretch included four Hawkeye miscues as well as kills from three different Purdue players and made it a 23-10 game. Kills by freshman Sam Epenesa and Nichol wrapped up the 25-11 victory.
Purdue carried the momentum into Set 3, taking a quick 10-2 advantage, en route to a 25-21 win, which featured five kills from Nichol. Two kills each from freshman Annie Drews, Nichol, and Jones help give Purdue the edge. Iowa cut the margin to three at 12-9. A pair of Hawkeye miscues and a kill by redshirt freshman Kaisley Fisher made it 15-9 Boilers, but Iowa scored five of the next six to pull within two at 16-14. Two more Iowa miscues and a kill by Turner pushed Purdue ahead by five at 19-14. A service error kicked off a 4-1 Boilermaker run, which also included a block by Nichol and Jones. Trailing 23-16, Iowa rallied, forcing a Purdue timeout at 23-20. Nichol pounded down two kills in the final three points to clinch the 25-21 victory and the sweep.
The No. 21 Boilermakers (19-7, 10-5 Big Ten) wrap up their 2012 road slate with an 8:30 p.m. ET match against No. 9 Nebraska in Lincoln on Saturday.