Nov. 22, 2013
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 25 Boilermakers finished off a season sweep of No. 6 Nebraska and picked up their biggest win of the season with a 3-0 win victory over the Huskers in front of a sold-out crowd at Belin Court Friday night. The 26-24, 25-21, 25-16 win snapped a four-match losing streak for Purdue and ended an eight-match win streak for the Huskers.
Junior Val Nichol led the Boilermaker offense with 12 kills, while redshirt senior Catherine Rebarchak added nine putaways and a team-best six blocks. Junior KiKi Jones put down six kills and managed five blocks, while redshirt freshman Faye Adelaja chipped in five kills and six stuffs. Sophomores Sam Epenesa and Annie Drews added four kills apiece.
Defensively, redshirt senior Carly Cramer led the way with 14 digs. Redshirt senior setter Rachel Davis added nine and senior Hilliary Fox was credited with six saves. Sophomore Amanda Neill served up two aces on the night.
The Boilers gutted out a 26-24 Set 1 win with help from eight kills by Nichol and four team blocks. Nebraska took the early lead , going up 7-4, before Purdue charged back with five of the next seven points to knot the score at 9-9, thanks in part to three Rebarchak putaways. The Huskers held on to the lead, going up by four at 20-16, prompting Purdue's first timeout. The Boilers scored five straight points out of the break to go up 21-20, including a pair of Nichol kills and a solo block by Jones. Nebraska went up 23-22, but a service error and a stuff by Drews and Adelaja put Purdue on top 24-23, forcing the Huskers to use their final timeout. Nebraska got a kill, but Nichol closed out the set with back-to-back putaways.
The teams split the first 10 points of Set 2 and were tied midway through the stanza, before Purdue closed it out on an 8-4 run. The Boilermakers hit .357 in the stanza to Nebraska's .100 effort. Jones was 4-for-4 on putaways to the lead the offense. Purdue went up 7-5 , but the Huskers scored three straight to take an 8-7 lead of their own. The Boilers countered with four of the next five points to make it 11-9. Nebraska regained the edge at 12-11 and went on to take a 16-14 lead. A 7-1 run put Purdue on top 21-17 and forced the Huskers to use both of their timeouts. Four players tallied kills in the rally. A Nebraska hitting error gave Purdue its biggest lead at 23-18, but the Huskers cut the margin to two with a 3-0 run. After a Boilermaker timeout, Rebarchak put down a kill then teamed up with Jones for the game-winning block at 25-21.
Purdue scored first in Set 3, leading 2-0 after a Nebraska miscues and a stuff by Rebarchak and Jones, but the Huskers soon led 8-6. Purdue turned things around with a 6-1 run, including a two blocks and two kills by Rebarchak, which made it 12-9 Boilers. A Husker kill stopped Purdue momentarily, but the home team continued on to a nine-point lead at 20-11 as the Huskers turned in five hitting errors and gave up an ace to Neill. Nebraska scored four of the next five to pull within six at 21-15. A kill and an ace by Nichol and a block by Rebarchak and Adelaja put the Boilermakers on the hill for the match. A Nebraska kill kept things going, but a Husker service error clinched the Purdue sweep at 25-16. Rebarchak had two kill and four stuffs in the final stanza as the Boilermakers held the Huskers to a -.047 hitting effort.
The No. 25 Boilermakers (17-11, 8-9 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Saturday against Iowa. Patrons with a Purdue-Illinois football ticket stub may receive $3 admission to the match.