Sept. 13, 2002
LAWRENCE, Kan. - Junior Eryn Leach (Saratoga, CA) tallied eight kills in her return to the court from an extended injury, but also saw the Boilermakers drop only their second match of the year, a 3-1 decision to the Southeast Missouri State Otahkians(5-5) .
After the Boilermakers won game one 31-29, the Otahkians took over the match, topping the squad 30-24, 30-17 and 30-25 in the next three games. Game two saw Southeast take a 6-2 lead and extend the margin to as many as seven at 16-9. Purdue committed three errors in the final moments of the game to give SEMO the 30-24 win. The Gold and Black committed nine errors in the game as well as three service errors. A .054 hitting percentage also hurt the Boilermaker's effort.
Game three opened with Purdue facing a 4-0 deficit which the team just could not shake. The Otahkians continued to dominate never allowing the Boilermakers a chance to get back on the plus side a trend which continued throughout the match.
"You have to hand it to Southeast Missouri State," head coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said. "We were beaten by a better team. That is one of those things we need to learn from and get better at. I think we've got great athletes, we just have to learn to play together. I have played Cindy (Gannon) before and I know she always has good defensive teams. They are always scrappy and always work hard. We knew what to expect coming in."
The fourth game brought ups and downs for the young Purdue squad. The team opened the game with a 4-0 lead but watched it dwindle to a one-point SEMO lead at 8-7. The squad were back and forth until the Boilermakers broke open a 5-3 run to take a 20-17 lead. The Gold and Black held the lead until the Otahkians tied the game at 22-22. Several costly errors denied the Boilermakers a chance at a deciding fifth-game, ending the match with a 30-25 victory for Southeast.
The Boilermakers started the match with Southeast hitting .327 in game one, with Kim McConaha (So., Centerville, IN) picking up nine kills. Purdue led by six at 16-10, but the Otahkians tied the game at 18-18 just minutes later. The game went back-and-forth over the next several plays, until a Leach (Jr., Saratoga, CA) kill (her first back from injury) gave the Boilermakers a two-point advantage at 28-26. SEMO would not go down easily, however, tying the game at 29-29 before a Marie Franke (Fr., Ballwin, MO) kill and a Otahkian error gave Purdue the game 31-29.
"We worked with Eryn this week and we knew what she was capable of," Hulsmeyer said of Leach's return. "She is still pretty sore, so it was a spot substitution but we are looking forward to Eryn being able to contribute more throughout the season."
McConaha and Lowry led the Boilermakers with 15 kills each, while Lowry also registered 19 digs to lead the match. Sarah Frost led SEMO with 19 kills, while Suzanne Gundlach tallied 17 digs for the team.
Purdue will have the night to regroup before a 1 p.m. meeting with host Kansas Saturday.