Oct. 25, 2003
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Northwestern Wildcats handed the Purdue volleyball its third straight loss with a three game sweep Saturday night. Northwestern won the match 30-17, 32-30 and 30-26 despite the Boilermakers' best efforts.
Purdue kicked off game one with a 3-1 lead, but saw that turn into a 6-3 deficit after a 5-0 Northwestern run. The Wildcats expanded their lead to five at 10-5, but the Boilermakers took six of the next eight points to cut the point margin to one at 12-11 after four NU errors. Northwestern rebounded with a 7-2 run to make it 20-13 in favor of the home team. Purdue faced a 13-point deficit at 28-15 after a run including two Iwona Lodzik service aces. A Kim Cappa kill stopped the Wildcats momentarily but a kill set up the first game-point attempt of the night. After an unforced error, Northwestern finished it out with a 30-17 win. Purdue hit just .032 to the Wildcats' .382 effort.
Game two was much closer and Purdue held the momentum to begin with. After trailing 5-3, the Boilermakers scored five straight to go up 8-5 and boosted the lead to six at 13-7 just minutes later. Purdue maintained at least a two point lead over the next several serves and were up 26-20 after a Marie Franke service ace. Northwestern would not give up scoring eight of the next 10 points including five kills by Lodzik to tie it up at 28. A kill by Kim McConaha set up Purdue's first attempt at the game. A Northwestern kill halted the effort, but a Wildcat net violation gave the Boilermakers attempt No. 2 at the game. Northwestern scored the next two points on a kill and a Purdue miscue to give itself a chance at a 2-0 lead in the match. Lodzik made good on her fifth ace of the game to give the Wildcats a 32-30 come-from-behind win.
The Boilermakers looked to extend the match with a win in game three and started out with a 3-0 lead. Northwestern tied things up at six, but Purdue responded with a 4-1 run to take a 10-7 lead on a Katie Dobson service ace. The Wildcats again fought back to tie it up 13, but a Brittany Dildine kill and a block by Dobson and Renata Dargan put the Purdue lead back at two. A pair of Northwestern blocks made it 15-15, but another 4-1 Boilermaker run featuring two Wildcat miscues, a block and a kill by Cappa, made it a 19-16 game. Northwestern stayed on pace with the Boilermaker effort and eventually took the lead at 25-23 on a four-point run. A Leah Wischmeier kill paused the Wildcat effort, but NU converted on four of the next six to set up a match-point attempt at 29-25. A hitting error gave Purdue a glimmer of hope, but Lodzik tallied her Xth kill of the match to give Northwestern a 30-26 win and the sweep.
McConaha led the Boilermakers with 10 kills, while junior Daren Poe pulled up 11 digs to lead all defensive players. Northwestern hit .294 in the match to Purdue's .132 percentage. The Wildcats also out-blocked the Boilermakers 11-6 in the match, while serving up eight aces to Purdue's two.
The Boilermakers (12-8, 5-5 Big Ten) will look to bounce back from its current three-loss skid when they take on the Butler Bulldogs in non-conference action Tuesday night in Indianapolis.