Sept. 24, 2005
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - No. 4 Penn State pulled out a come-from-behind, five-game nail biter against No. 19 Purdue Saturday night. The Nittany Lions overcame a 2-1 deficit to edge the Boilermakers in a 22-30, 30-21, 27-30, 30-24, 15-11 victory.
"I feel a lot better tonight than I did last night," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We were a different team tonight. It is difficult to lose a player like (Leah) Wischmeier and turn around and play two tough teams. We are still trying to figure out what lineup works and we were closer with that tonight. We competed, that is all I ask of our players is to compete and to play intelligently and they did that tonight against a tough Penn State team."
Penn State took a 3-1 lead to open the deciding fifth game, but Purdue answered with a block by freshman Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) and junior Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.) and an ace by Ukovich to tie it up at 3-3. The Nittany Lions upped their lead to four at 8-4, then a kill by senior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) made it a three-point game at 9-6. Penn State used a 3-0 run to make it 12-6, but Purdue would not go away, chalking up a 4-0 run, including a pair of blocks by sophomores Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.), to make it 12-10 and force and PSU timeout. Penn State scored two straight points out of the break, before a Mader kill thwarted the Nittany Lions' first chance at the match. A service error, however, clinched the come-from-behind win for PSU.
Purdue raced out to a 10-3 lead in Game 1, shocking the Nittany Lion crowd and forcing a Penn State timeout. Eight of the Boilermakers' points came off PSU errors, while the other two came on a block by junior Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.) and sophomore Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) and a kill by freshman Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.). PSU pulled within four at 10-6, but Purdue answered with five of the next seven points to make it 15-8. Three different hitters got in on the action during the string. Penn State pulled within five at 20-15, but kills by senior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) and Ukovich pushed the margin to seven at 22-15. Penn State mounted a 6-3 run to cut the Boilermaker lead to four at 25-21 and 26-22, but Purdue stood strong, ending the game with a 4-0 run of its own. Sophomore Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and freshman Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) posted kills during the string, while Jacques served up an ace. A Nittany Lion hitting error sealed the 30-22 Purdue win. Merlau led Purdue with five kills in the stanza.
Penn State shook off the loss, kicking off Game 2 with a 5-0 run. A kill by Lynch ended the streak, but PSU kept the momentum raising its lead to seven at 9-2. A kill by Dargan and a block by Jacques and Mader made it a five-point game at 9-4. Up by five at 10-5, the Nittany Lions expanded the point margin to 10 with a 5-0 run. Purdue answered with three points on a Mader kill, an ace by Dargan and a PSU hitting miscue to make it 15-8. Penn State scored nine of the next 13 points to make it a 12-point game at 24-14. The Boilermakers cut into the margin with three straight kills from Jacques, Dargan and Lynch. The Nittany Lions answered with a 3-1 run, pushing the score to 27-16. Purdue posted three of the next four to make it 28-19. A net violation set up Penn State first game-point attempt, but a kill by Merlau and a block by Jacques forced a third attempt for the Nittany Lions. A PSU block evened the match at a game apiece with the 30-21 win.
Game 3 began as a shootout as the teams tied at 3-3 on an ace by Ukovich and again at 5-5 on and ace by junior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.). Penn State scored four straight out to break the tie and go up 9-5. Looking a 13-7 deficit in the face, Purdue took a time out and scored two points out of the break. The teams traded the next eight points leading to an 18-14 score. Ukovich put down a kill to cut the margin to three, but Penn State responded with a 4-1 run to go up six at 22-16. Down six again at 24-18, the Boilermakers chalked up a 6-0 run, featuring a pair of blocks from Lynch and Mader and a backrow kill by sophomore Annie Mastandrea, to tie it up at 24-24. The teams tied at 25 and 26, then Purdue took the lead at 27-26 on an ace by Dargan. PSU tied it at 27, but the Boilermakers posted three straight points to take the game at 30-27. Merlau put down the game-winner.
The Boilermakers carried momentum into Game 4, taking a 5-1 lead, but Penn State fought back tying the game at 9-9. Purdue went up 13-10 after back-to-back kills by Mader and a block by Ukovich and Jacques. The Nittany Lions tied it at 13-13, sparking a string of five ties, last at 18-18. Penn State then posted a 5-0 run to go up 23-18. Purdue cut the margin to three at 26-23 with a 3-1 run, which included two kills by Lynch. PSU answered with a 3-1 run of its own to set up a game-point attempt at 29-24. A hitting error by the Boilermakers gave Penn State the 30-24 win to extend the match to a deciding fifth game.
Purdue had not taken a single game from Penn State since 1997 and hadn't won two stanzas against the Nittany Lions since 1984 coming into the night.
Merlau led the Boilermaker offense with 17 kills, while Mader added 15 and Lynch posted 10. Dargan and Ukovich each served up two aces. Mastandrea led the Purdue defense with 22 digs, while freshman Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) added 13 and Dargan and Dildine each tallied 11. Lynch tallied a team-best six blocks in the match.
Purdue (11-2) returns to the court Friday night when the No. 10 Wisconsin Badgers come to the IAF. First serve is slated for 7 p.m.