Sept. 13, 2013
TAMPA, Fla. - The No. 22 Boilermaker volleyball team extended its win streak to three matches with a 3-0 sweep of Florida Atlantic to kick off the USF Invitational on Friday. Purdue won the match 25-11, 25-15, 25-20.
Sophomore Annie Drews led the Boiler offense with eight kills, while hitting at a .583 clip and adding four blocks. Junior KiKi Jones added seven kills and a match-high seven stuffs. Junior Val Nichol, sophomore Sam Epenesa and redshirt senior Katie Griffin chipped in six kills apiece, while freshman Faye Adelaja and redshirt senior Catherine Rebarchak rounded out the offense with four kills apiece.
Defensively, libero Carly Cramer led the way with 14 digs. Sophomore Amanda Neill followed with eight, while Jones, Nichol and redshirt senior setter Rachel Davis added five apiece. The Boilermakers outhit FAU .301 to .033 on the night, while outblocking the Owls 11.5 to four.
FAU scored the first point of Set 1, but it was nearly all Boilermakers after that as Purdue won going away at 25-11. Purdue posted four blocks in the set and outhit the Owls .357 to -.105. Rebarchak and Nichol each put up four kills in the stanza. The Boilermakers led it 5-1 when FAU called its first timeout and raised the edge to 12-4 soon as Jones pounded down back-to-back kills. An ace by Neill pushed the advantage to 10 at 18-8. A pair of kills by Rebarchak and Nichol gave Purdue the 22-11 advantage. A pair of blocks by Jones and Drews coupled with a Drews putaway sealed the win.
The Owls took an early 5-1 lead in Set 2, but the Boilermakers turned that around with a 9-2 run and went on to take the stanza 25-15. Griffin put down three kills and the Boilers put up two stuffs in the rally. A solo block by Griffin made it 12-8 Purdue and kills by Adelaja and Fox pushed the lead to five at 14-9, forcing FAU to use a timeout. The Owls cut the margin to three at 14-11, but that just prompted another Boilermaker run. Purdue scored six of the next seven, including a pair of Epenesa putdowns, to surge ahead by eight at 20-12. An Owl miscue and a kill by Drews gave the Boilers set point at 24-14. An Adelaja kill capped the victory.
Trailing 6-3 in Set 3, the Boilermakers rallied to take a 7-6 lead as Cramer and Nichol served up aces. An ace by Jones, kills by Jones and Drews and a monster block by Nichol, Griffin and Adelaja made it 14-9 and forced an FAU timeout. The Owls scored four straight to cut the margin to one at 14-13. Purdue responded with kills by Nichol and Epenesa and a block by Nichol and Adelaja to push ahead 17-13. The teams split the next six points, but Drews helped the Boilers pull away with three kills over the next four points to make it 22-17. FAU used its final timeout at 23-18 and the teams split the final four points to end the match. A net violation and back row block call against the Owls wrapped up the match with a 25-20 score.
The No. 22 Boilermakers return to action at 11 a.m. Saturday when they take on Pittsburgh on Day 2 of the USF Invitational.