Sept. 7, 2005
INDIANPOLIS, Ind. - It was a historic night for the Purdue Boilermakers as senior setter Renata Dargan broke the school's career assist record in the team's 3-0 sweep of Butler. Dargan overtook the record in Game 1 of the 30-14, 30-21, 30-21 victory.
"I am just lucky with the type of teams I have been on the past four years," Dargan said. "We struggled in the beginning, and are hopefully in the top of the Big Ten now, and this record shows that we are moving up. Getting the record lets me look back on all my memories at Purdue, both the successes and the failures and all that I have learned from the teams I played on. It makes me think back on my coaches and all the support I have had from everybody. Without my team around me, I couldn't have done this; there are so many others involved. This just motivates me to be player I am and to become the player I want to be."
The Boilermakers raced out to a 5-1 lead in Game 1, behind a pair of kills by freshman Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) and a pair of Butler errors. The Bulldogs cut the lead to three several times, but could not break through. The score stood at 13-10, when Purdue strung together a 5-2 run, which included kills by sophomore Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and freshman Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.) and a service ace by senior Renata Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.). Krystal Hendrix chalked up a kill for Butler to end the streak, but the Boilermakers bounced back with back-to-back kills by Mader and senior Leah Wischmeier (Brownstown, Ind.), the latter ringing historic for Purdue as Dargan snapped the career assists record on the play. Purdue scored six of the next seven points, capped by a service ace by junior Melanie Ukovich (Minooka, Ill.), which made it 26-13. After a Butler kill, the Boilermakers finished out the game on a 4-0 run, to garner the 30-14 win. Purdue hit .324 in the game, while holding Butler to a -.057 effort.
The Boilermakers kept the fire going in Game 2, starting the game with a 5-0 run, including kills by three different players. The Bulldogs managed a kill to stop the rally, but Purdue picked up with two straight points on a Butler hitting error and a kill by freshman Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) to make it 7-1. The Bulldogs scored four of the next five to pull within three at 8-5. The Boilermakers answered with a 3-1 run, capped by a block from senior Sarah Vitali (St. Charles, Ill.) and senior Marie Franke (Ballwin, Mo.). Butler made it 11-8, before Purdue rattled off four straight points including an ace by redshirt junior Lindsay Shondell (Muncie, Ind.) to push the lead to seven at 15-8. The Bulldogs pulled within five at 18-13 on an ace of their own, but Purdue used a 7-3 run to expand the point margin to nine at 25-16. The teams traded two-point rallies over the next eight points, the last of which came on back-to-back kills from Merlau. A net violation stopped Purdue's first game point attempt, but a Butler service error gave the Boilermakers the 30-21 win a play later. Purdue again broke the .300 mark in hitting percentage, posting a .315 mark. Merlau tallied seven kills in the stanza.
Butler returned from the intermission with a purpose, kicking off Game 3 with a 5-2 run and garnering its first lead of the night. The rally was enough to awaken the Boilermakers, which responded with an 8-0 run on the serve of junior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.), who served up three aces in the string. Butler cut the Purdue advantage to two at 12-10, but again Purdue responded. The Boilermakers scored nine of the next 11 points including three blocks, the last a solo effort by Vitali, to take a 19-12 lead. A trio of plays involving Lynch, helped the Boilermaker advantage to 10 at 24-14. The Bulldogs would not go away, however, posting a 5-2 run to bring the score to 26-19. Kills by Franke, Ukovich and Vitali made it 29-19, but a block and kill by Butler kept the game going. Finally, a kill by Franke sealed the 3-0 sweep with a 30-21 Game 3 victory.
"I think it is great that we were able to play so many players with ties to the state of Indiana tonight," head coach Dave Shondell said. "Many of them have played in Hinkle Fieldhouse before in state tournaments, and to have them be able to play in front of fans from all over the state is one of the reasons we continue to come back here.
"We played 15 players tonight and most of them played quite a bit. You can't do that and win without having quality players on the floor at all times. I thought several players performed well after coming off the bench. Lindsay did well, whether she was playing right back or setting. Meghan McCormick was steady for us. Marie Franke did well off the bench and Sarah Vitali did a good job for us in the middle in Game 3."
Merlau led Purdue with 16 kills, followed by eight by Mader and seven by Franke. Merlau hit .536 on the night, with just one error on 28 swings. Dargan ended the night with 38 assists to push her career total to 4,613. Mastandrea led the Boilermaker defense with 18 digs.
"Renata deserves this record more than anybody, she helped get us to where we are today," Shondell said. "I hope that there are a lot more assists in her before this is over."
Purdue returns to action at 7 p.m. eastern on Friday, when the team plays host North Carolina at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic in Chapel Hill, N.C. First serve is slated for 6 p.m. West Lafayette time.