Nov. 27, 2013
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. - The No. 20 Boilermaker volleyball team led the match from start to finish and used a balanced offense and a tough net play to post a 3-0 sweep of Indiana Wednesday night to add another P link to the Monon Spike travelling trophy.
Junior KiKi Jones led the way with nine kills on a .471 hitting percentage, while junior Val Nichol and sophomore Sam Epenesa added eight putaways each. Redshirt senior Catherine Rebarchak added six kills, redshirt freshman Faye Adelaja and sophomore Annie Drews chipped in four and three respectively.
The Boilermakers outhit the Hoosiers .337 to .189 and outblocked IU 9-6.
Redshirt senior Carly Cramer led the defense with 11 digs, while senior Hilliary Fox added eight. Nichol and Jones put up four blocks apiece to lead the way at the net.
The Boilermakers led Set 1 from start to finish, leading by as many as seven en route to a 25-17 win. Purdue outhit the Hoosiers .310 to .086 in the stanza, which saw six players tally putaways, including four from Nichol. The Boilers jumped out to a 5-1 lead, including an ace by Cramer and and a kill and a block by Epenesa. Indiana pulled within one at 7-6, but Purdue boosted the edge to four at 12-8. The Hoosiers cut the margin to one again at 13-12, but the Boilers responded with seven of the next eight points to go up 20-13, including three blocks. Nichol posted her 700th career kill to make it 21-14. Indiana had three of the next four points, but Purdue closed it out with three straight points, including kills by Nichol and Adelaja.
Epenesa, Jones and Rebarchak turned in four kills apiece as Purdue hit .367 in a 25-22 Set 2 win. The teams split the first 12 points of the stanza, but Purdue used a 4-0 run to go ahead 10-6. Indiana cut the deficit to two at 13-11, but a pair of Rebarchak kills helped the Boilers to a five point edge at 16-11. The Hoosiers were within one at 16-15, but the Boilermakers used a 5-2 run to go ahead 21-17 on a stuff by Nichol and Jones. Indiana rallied again to tie it up at 21, but Purdue scored four of the last five to cap the win. A block by Nichol and Adelaja and a Rebarchak kill ended the set.
Purdue ran out to a 9-3 lead in Set 3 and held off of a midset rally by the Hoosiers, going on to at 25-19 win and the sweep. Nichol and Jones had three kills apiece in the final stanza. Sophomore Amanda Neill served up an ace and Nichol had two kills and a block in the Boilers' quick start. Indiana scored six straight to cut the margin to one at 12-11. Purdue scored eight of the next 11 to widen the gap to six at 20-14 and force IU to use its final timeout. Five Hoosier miscues aided the Boiler rally. Kills by Nichol and Jones and a stuff by the pair made it 23-16. A Drews putaway put Purdue on the hill at 24-18 and an Adelaja kill secured the sweep.
The No. 20 Boilermakers (19-11, 10-9 Big Ten) wrap up the regular season against No. 19 Michigan State at 7 p.m. Saturday. Purdue will celebrate Senior Day in a celebration beginning at 6:55 p.m.