Sept. 21, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue volleyball team earned its first win of the season when it defeated Iowa 35-33, 30-25, 30-27 on Friday. The Boilermakers improved to 1-0 in Big Ten play (1-7 overall), while the Hawkeyes fall to 0-2 in conference action (2-5 overall). Friday marked Purdue's first match since the national tragedy on Sept. 11.
"Its been so long since we've played a match," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "It feels like a new season. We pulled out a great win in the face of much adversity."
After not playing for two weeks, the Boilermakers were ready to compete.
"The team came in ready to play and they wanted this win," Hulsmeyer said. "We've been losing so many close matches that this win was a good chance for many of our players to heal."
Rookie Leah Wischmeier led the Boilermakers with 11 kills. Senior Maegan Petersen and sophomore Eryn Leach both contributed 10 kills. Sophomore Tiffany Yoskey paced Purdue in blocks with six and digs with eight.
The Boilermakers got off to 6-3 start in Game 1. Purdue continued to forge out by going on a 5-4 run to take the 11-7 lead. But Iowa picked up its momentum and managed to knot the score at the 13, 14, 16 and 17 marks. The Boilermakers went on an 8-3 run to take a 25-20 lead. But once again, the Hawkeyes were not out of the contest. They went on a 9-4 run to tie the game 29-all. Both teams exchanged several points and sideouts before Purdue went on to win 35-33.
The Old Gold and Black committed only eight errors on 40 attempts en route to a 30-25 victory in Game 2. The Purdue momentum carried over into Game 3 as the Boilermakers got off to a 6-2 start. Purdue made good on a couple of kills from sophomore setter Jen Bova and several Iowa errors to take an 11-7 lead. Iowa went on a 5-1 run to knot the game 12-all. The match stayed close, but Purdue went on a 5-3 run of its own to take a 17-15 lead. Kills from rookie Lyndsey Phillips, Petersen and Leach put the Boilermakers up 20-18. The Hawkeyes once again crept up to tie the score at the 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 and 27 marks. But enough was enough for Purdue who used a Phillips kill, service ace from Yoskey and Iowa net violation to take the 30-27 win.
The Boilermakers will return to action on Saturday night to face No. 17 Minnesota at 7 p.m.