Sept. 7, 2001
OXFORD, Ohio - The Purdue volleyball team faced its second top-25 team of the season on Friday at the Miami-Best Western Invitational. The Boilermakers were defeated 30-26, 30-27, 30-27 by No. 21 South Carolina. With the loss, the Old Gold and Black falls to 0-4 on the season, while the Gamecocks improve to 4-0.
Rookie Leah Wischmeier led the effort with 11 kills and 10 digs in the first double-double of her collegiate career. In addition, she committed only two errors on 26 attempts for a .346 hitting percentage.
Senior Maegan Petersen recorded 10 kills, while sophomore Eryn Leach was good for eight. Sophomore setter Jen Bova had 36 assists and nine digs.
Wischmeier's errorless effort in Game 1 was not enough to pull the Boilermakers through. South Carolina got out to a 17-12 lead. They continued to break away by going on an 11-9 run, increasing its lead to 28-21. An out-of-bounds error by Petersen gave the Gamecocks the game-point situation. Leach got three consecutive kills and Purdue forced a South Carolina out-of-bounds error to get within three. The Gamecocks block a Boilermaker ball and take the game.
Although Purdue only committed six errors on 36 attempts in Game 2, it was not enough to hold off South Carolina. The Old Gold and Black fell 30-27. The Boilermakers were defeated by the same score in Game 3.
Purdue will face Illinois State at 12:30 p.m. (11:30 a.m. Lafayette time).