Oct. 22, 2013
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 21 Boilermaker volleyball won its third match in a five day stretch with a 3-0 sweep of rival Indiana Tuesday night.
Redshirt senior Catherine Rebarchak led all hitting with 10 kills, while hitting at a .389 clip. Sophomore Annie Drews added seven kills, hit .385 and chipped in a team-best four blocks. Sophomore Sam Epenesa and junior KiKi Jones posted five kills apiece.
Defensively, redshirt senior Carly Cramer pulled up 12 digs and served up Purdue's lone ace. At the net, Jones and Drews each had four blocks, while Rebarchak and redshirt freshman Faye Adelaja had three apiece.
Purdue outhit the Indiana .221 to .088 and put up nine blocks to IU's four.
Nichol, Rebarchak and Drews had three kills apiece as Purdue started the night with a 25-22 Set 1 win. The Boilermakers jumped out to a 9-1 lead, including eight straight points, but had to hold off a late Hoosier charge in the stanza. The Hoosiers scored three straight after the initial Purdue rally and slowly narrowed the gap to three at 13-10. Purdue took a break and raised the edge back to five at 16-11. Up just 16-14 soon after, the Boilers scored three straight including a kill and a block by Rebarchak to make it 19-14 and force IU to use its final timeout. The Hoosiers scored four of the next five out of the break to cut the deficit to two. Kills by Nichol, Rebarchak and Adelaja put Purdue on the hill at 24-20. On the third set point attempt, Indiana served it out of bounds to close out the stanza.
Purdue outhit Indiana .421 to .125 in Set 2 as Drews pounded down four more kills and the Boiler block put up three stuffs. Indiana scored two of the first three points, but the Boilermakers broke off a 6-1 run to pull away. The Hoosiers were within one at 10-9, but an Epenesa kill and an IU miscue made it 12-9. Indiana scored eight of the next 10 points to turn the deficit into a 17-14 lead of its own. Purdue called timeout to regroup and rallied to finish off the set with an 11-2 run. Kills by Drews and Nichol and a stuff by Drews put Purdue on top 19-18 forcing the first of two Indiana timeouts. The Boilermakers carried the momentum to take a 24-18 lead thanks in part to three more IU miscues. Rebarchak finished off the set with her third kill of the stanza.
Set 3 saw the Boilers bust out to a 10-0 edge, but also featured an Indiana rally that kept things close. Trailing 10-0, the Hoosiers countered with a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to two at 12-10 and force a Purdue timeout. The teams traded points over the next 14 serves as the Boilermaker lead teetered between one and three. Leading 19-17, Purdue added a little cushion thanks to an IU service error and kills by Jones and redshirt senior Katie Griffin. A putway by Jones gave the Boilers a 24-19 edge, setting up the final stuff by Adelaja and junior Val Nichol which sealed the 25-19 win. Jones and Rebarchak each turned in four kills in the final set.
No. 21 Purdue returns to action at 7 p.m. Saturday when the team faces off with No. 17 Michigan in Ann Arbor.