Oct. 9, 2001
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The Purdue volleyball snapped a five match losing streak Tuesday when it defeated IUPUI 30-28, 30-25, 30-22. The Boilermakers improve to 2-11 (1-5 Big Ten), while IUPUI falls to 3-12 (3 Mid-Con).
"Since we play in the very tough Big Ten conference, it is difficult to see how good this team really is," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "This team is solid, and we play big and very physical. Tonight's match against IUPUI, a team that is a lot like most of the teams around the county, allowed everyone to see how well we come together."
Tonight's win was definitely a team effort. Rookie Lyndsey Phillips recorded a team high 13 kills, with only one error to hit at a clip of .750 (13-1-16). Sophomore Eryn Leach had nine kills and three blocks on the evening. Both sophomore Joanna Lowry and senior Maegan Petersen turned in seven kills. Sophomore setter Jen Bova recorded 39 assists.
After starting Game 1 down 0-2, the Boilermakers went on a 7-3 run to take the 7-5 lead. Purdue made good on a couple of IUPUI errors and a dump by Bova to up the lead to 10-7. A kill from freshman Leah Wischmeier and a Jaguar point brought the score to 11-8, before the Boilermakers unleashed four in a row. Two kills from Phillips, a block assist from Phillips and Yoskey and an out of bounds error from IUPUI gave Purdue a 15-9 lead. But the Jaguars managed to get within one at 23-22. They continued to play the Boilermakers close until a net error gave the Old Gold and Black gamepoint. Purdue went on to win the game 30-28.
Senior Lori Knicker and sophomore Joanna Lowry came off the bench to fuel the 30-25 Game 2 win. Both players turned in five kills with no errors for .714 hitting percentages (5-0-7). Knicker had three digs, while Lowry turned in two. After overcoming a 7-2 deficit, Purdue came back to knot the score 16-all and went on to take a 20-19 lead. The Boilermakers did not look back en route to a 30-25 victory.
The Old Gold and Black came out and took a 4-0 lead to start Game 3. The Boilermakers quickly extended the lead to 8-1, and did not look back as they sailed to a 30-22 win.
The Boilermakers will travel to Northwestern and No. 6 Wisconsin this weekend.
NOTE: Freshman Leah Wischmeier suffered an ankle sprain in Game 2. The status of her injury or time off is unknown at this time.