Oct. 12, 2001
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Purdue volleyball team fell 32-34, 26-30, 30-28, 24-30 to Northwestern on Friday. The Boilermakers fell to 2-12 (1-6 Big Ten), while the Wildcats improve to 7-7 (4-4 Big Ten).
Sophomore Joanna Lowry led Purdue in kills for the first time this season with 15. Rookie Lyndsey Phillips, sophomore Eryn Leach and senior Maegan Petersen all had 11. Sophomore setter Jen Bova led the squad with 13 digs, while junior Tiffany Yoskey was the blocks leader with six.
"Joanna stepped up and really helped out tonight," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "She has proved that she is capable of playing both left or right side for us, and without Leah Wischmeier, she had to do that tonight. She looked a lot like she did last year and we hope to see that consistently from her for the rest of the season.
The Boilermakers got out to an 8-4 lead in Game 1, and went on a 2-3 run to extend the lead to 10-7. Kills from Leach, Bova and Lowry paired with an out-of-bounds Northwestern error gave Purdue a 14-10 advantage. The Boilermakers got in a 4-3 run, making the score 16-13. But that would be the last lead of the game where either team got out to more than a two-point advantage. The Wildcats rallied to take the game to the limit, winning 34-32.
Purdue could not overcome an early 12-7 Northwestern lead in Game 2. After knotting the score 21-all, the Old Gold and Black gave up seven consecutive points, allowing a 28-21 lead. A kill from Lowry gave Purdue new hope closing the gap to six, but a service error from Bova gave the Wildcats gamepoint at 29-22. The Boilermakers scored four more, before Northwestern went on to win 30-26.
The Old Gold and Black overcame a 10-6 lead to win Game 3, 30-28. After fighting to knot the match at the 16, 21 and 22 marks, the Boilermakers allowed three consecutive Wildcat points. Purdue made good on a service ace by senior Christy Case and kills from Lowry and Yoskey to take a 28-26 lead. The Boilermakers traded two sideouts before stealing the win.
Northwestern took Game 4 with a 30-24 win.
The Boilermakers will take on No. 6 Wisconsin on Saturday in Madison.