Sept. 23, 2005
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The No. 19 Purdue volleyball team (11-1) suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of No. 16 Ohio State Friday night in both team's Big Ten opener. The Buckeyes registered a 30-25, 30-26, 28-30, 30-23 win.
Purdue scored the first point of the match on a kill by sophomore Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.), but Ohio State took over from there, posting an 8-1 run to go up by six at 8-2. The Boilermakers fought back cutting the margin to three at 11-8. The Buckeyes committed three errors during the rally. OSU made it a five-point game at 14-9, then the teams traded the next six points leading to a 17-12 score. Purdue managed three straight points on a pair of Buckeye errors and a kill by freshman Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) to make it 17-15. The Boilermakers called a timeout trailing by four at 24-20. The pause sparked a 3-0 run, which included a pair of kills by freshman Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.), to cut the margin to one at 24-23. A 5-1 Buckeye run set up a game-point attempt for OSU at 29-24, but a hitting error stopped the effort. A kill by Nicole Britenriker capped the 30-24 win for Ohio State.
The Boilermakers took a 2-1 lead to begin Game 2 as Mader and sophomore Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) registered kills. The Buckeyes tied the score at 2-2, beginning a string of seven ties, the last at 8-8. Purdue went up by two at 10-8 after an OSU hitting error and a solo block by Mader. Down 12-10, Ohio State put together a 5-0 run to take the lead. The Boilermakers kept it close, not allowing the point margin to exceed three. Trailing 20-17, Purdue managed a 5-0 run of its own, including two kills and a block by Merlau, to retake the lead at 22-20. The Boilermaker lead stood at three at 24-21 after a kill by Jacques and an OSU miscue, but the Buckeyes would not back down, instead scoring eight of the next nine points to go up 29-25. An OSU service error kept the game going, but a kill on the following serve gave Ohio State a 2-0 lead heading into intermission. The Buckeyes hit .442 to Purdue's .308 effort in the second stanza.
Ohio State again took the early lead in Game 3, jumping out to a 5-2 margin. Purdue responded to the deficit with a 6-0 run, including a pair of aces by junior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) and a pair of blocks by Mader, to go up 9-5. The Boilermakers maintained the lead throughout the rest of the game, although the Buckeyes pulled within one on two occasions. Purdue owned a 24-19 lead after a three-point rally, but Ohio State used a 5-1 run to slice the point margin to one at 25-24 and 26-25. A pair of OSU hitting miscues and a kill by Mader set up the Boilermakers' first game-point attempt at 29-25. The Buckeyes managed three kills to hold off the Purdue effort, but a tip-shot kill by Mader extended the match with a 30-28 Boilermaker win.
The Boilermakers faced an 11-4 deficit to begin Game 4, but fought back valiantly. Down by seven at 13-6, Purdue posted a 4-0 run including an ace by junior Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.) to pull within four at 13-9. Ohio State pushed its lead back to eight at 18-10, but the Boilermakers would not go away, cutting the point margin to four at 21-17 with a 7-3 run. Mader tallied three kills during the rally. A setting error by OSU pulled Purdue within three at 22-19, but Ohio State answered with a 6-0 run to make it 28-19. The Boilermakers scored four of the next five points, two on kills by Merlau, to stave off the Buckeyes. A kill by Britenriker gave Ohio State the match with a 30-23 win.
Mader and Merlau led the Boilermaker offense with 17 and 14 kills respectively. Dildine served up two aces while also adding 12 digs for Purdue. Sophomore Annie Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) pulled up 20 digs to lead the Boilermaker defense, while Miller added 10. Purdue outblocked OSU 11 to 7, but four Buckeyes reached double-digits in kills.
The Boilermakers look to rebound when they face No. 4 Penn State in University Park, Pa., on Saturday night.