Oct. 26, 2013
ANN ARBOR, Mich. - The No. 21 Boilermaker volleyball team won its fourth-straight match, topping No. 17 Michigan 3-1 on Saturday night. Purdue won the match 25-20, 13-25, 25-22, 25-20 including a masterful comeback effort in Set 3.
Redshirt senior Catherine Rebarchak, junior Val Nichol and sophomore Sam Epenesa led the way offensively with 13 kills apiece, each hitting over .300 on the night. Junior KiKi Jones added eight kills, while redshirt freshman Faye Adelaja and sophomore Annie Drews chipped in six and four to round out the offense. Purdue outhit Michigan .277 to .224.
Defensively, the Boilers put up 11 blocks to Michigan's nine, including seven by Jones and five by Epenesa. Redshirt senior Carly Cramer led the way in the back court with 14 digs, while senior Hilliary Fox added 10.
The Boilers put on an offensive show in Set 1, hitting at a .500 clip as six players got in on the action. Nichol and Epenesa led the way, both playing errorless volleyball and hitting over .700 with five kills apiece. Michigan scored the first two points of the stanza, but Purdue rallied to go ahead at 4-3 with putaways by three players. The Wolverines owned one-point edges at 5-4 and 6-5, but the Boilermakers responded with seven of the next nine points to take a 12-8 lead and force a UM timeout. A stuff block by Epenesa made it 15-11, but Michigan used a 5-2 run to cut the margin to just one at 17-16. Kills by Jones, Nichol and Adelaja put Purdue up 19-16, but Michigan was back within one at 20-19. The Boilers closed out the set at 25-20 with five of the last six points, including three putaways by Epenesa.
Michigan evened the match at a set apiece with a 25-13 Set 2 win, outhitting Purdue .500 to .107 and recording four blocks. The Wolverines scored four of the first five points in the stanza and went on to a 9-4 advantage. A pair of Adelaja kills and one from Rebarchak pulled Purdue within four at 11-7, but the Boilermakers could not break through and got no closer the rest of the way.
Purdue trailed by as many as seven in Set 3, but outscored Michigan 16-6 down the stretch in a 25-22 win. The Boilermakers scored first, but Michigan soon owned a 9-4 edge. Three straight points, including a pair of Wolverine miscues cut the margin to two at 9-7. A 7-2 run put Michigan up by seven at 16-9, but that just served to spark a 7-0 rally by the Boilers. The stretch, which tied the score at 16-16, included four Boiler blocks, three involving Epenesa, and two UM hitting errors. Down 19-17, Purdue scored five of the next six to go ahead 22-20. Two more blocks and kill by Nichol and Adelaja helped the Boilers to the edge that forced Michigan to use its final timeout. The Wolverines were down one at 23-22, but kills by Epenesa and Rebarchak closed out the comeback win at 25-22.
Epenesa put down five kills and the Boilermakers outhit Michigan .316 to .143 in Set 4 en route to a 25-20 win and the match. Purdue jumped out to a 5-1 edge, including three kills by Epenesa. A pair of kills by Drews made it 11-6 Boilers, but Michigan narrowed the gap to one at 13-12. A 5-0 Purdue run, including three straight stuffs gave the Boilers an 18-12 lead. A pair of kills by Jones and a UM hitting error made it a six point game again at 22-16. The Wolverines put down back to back kills to pull within four at 23-19 prompting a Purdue timeout. A pair of kills by Rebarchak sealed the match at 25-20 after the break.
The No. 21 Boilermakers (15-6, 6-4 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday when they take on Minnesota on Belin Court.