Oct. 15, 2005
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 21 Purdue volleyball team moved its Big Ten win streak to five matches after sweeping Iowa 3-0 Saturday night. The Boilermakers followed up its Friday night upset win over No. 9 Minnesota with a 30-25, 30-23, 30-23 win over the Hawkeyes.
"Last night was an exciting win, but it would not mean a lot if we had lost tonight," senior setter Renata Dargan said. "We knew what we had to do to beat Iowa. They had beaten Illinois last night so we knew they would be ready to play a good team. You can't expect people to lay down for you. You have to be prepared for anything and we were."
Iowa took the early lead in the match, going up 4-1, but Purdue rallied to pull within one at 6-5 on a block by freshmen Kelli Miller (Muncie, Ind.) and Stephanie Lynch (New Albany, Ind.). The Hawkeyes took the next six points to make it 11-5. Down 17-11, Purdue used a 4-0 run to cut the margin to two at 17-15. Miller, Lynch and senior Marie Franke (Ballwin, Mo.) posted kills in the stretch. Iowa maintained its lead over the next several serves until the Boilermakers posted a 4-0 run to turn a 23-21 deficit into a 25-23 lead. Freshman Danita Merlau (New Palestine, Ind.) tallied two kills in the run, while the Hawkeyes committed two errors. Iowa pulled cut the margin to one at 26-25, but Purdue finished the game with four straight points, including two by Miller, who sealed the 30-25 win. Miller registered seven kills in the stanza, while Lynch added six as Purdue hit .359 to Iowa's .147 effort.
Purdue turned an early 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 lead to start Game 2. A pair of kills by Merlau and an ace by Dargan (New Lenox, Ill.) pushed the Boilermakers into the lead. Iowa fought back to tie the score at 7-7 with a 3-0 run. The teams traded the next four points leading to a 9-9 tie. A service ace by Justeen Patton gave the Hawkeyes a 10-9 lead and another ace by Kiley Fister put Iowa up 12-10. That sparked a 3-0 Purdue run including kills by Dargan and Miller to give the Boilermakers back the lead at 13-12. The Hawkeyes went up 15-14 after a pair of blocks, but Purdue responded with six straight points to take a 20-15 lead. Merlau, Miller, sophomore Lizzie Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) and junior Brittany Dildine (West Lafayette, Ind.) posted kills during the run, while Dildine also chalked up an ace. The Purdue lead grew to seven at 27-20 on a kill by Jacques. A kill by Merlau and an ace by Dildine made it 29-21. A kill by Stacy Vitali and a Boilermaker hitting error thwarted Purdue's first two efforts to close the game, but a kill by Miller clinched the 30-23 win. Jacques and Merlau each posted six kills in the game.
Iowa scored four of the first five points in Game 3, but Purdue answered with a 7-1 run to go up 8-5. Jacques tallied two blocks in the stretch, while Dildine served up her third ace of the night. Kills by sophomore Sam Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) and Lynch and an ace from Jacques made it 11-6 Boilermakers. Iowa closed to within four at 13-9, but a kill from Lynch and an ace by sophomore Anne Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) pushed the advantage back to six. The Hawkeyes made it a five-point game at 19-14, but Purdue answered with four of the next five points to push the margin to eight at 23-15. Miller, Lynch and Merlau put down kills in the stretch. Iowa cut the lead to three at 26-23 after an 8-3 run, including an ace. Purdue regained its composure and finished the match with a 4-0 run. Miller and Lynch each posted kills and combined on a block to set up match point. Mader put down the final kill to give the Boilermakers the 30-23 win.
"Obviously this was a good week for Purdue volleyball," head coach Dave Shondell said. "To put up five wins in a row after starting the Big Ten season 0-3 and dealing with the adversity that we have says a lot about our players. We used our defense to beat Minnesota by shutting down the things they like to do. Tonight we had enough people play at a high level to make up for those who weren't. You expect that after an emotional victory, but we can't afford to do that. We did not get better out there tonight."
Miller led all hitters with 15 kills, while Merlau and Lynch added 14 and 13 respectively. Lynch hit a stellar .647 on the night, while also adding four blocks. Dildine served up three aces. Mastandrea led the defense with 11 digs, while Dargan finished out her fifth double-double of the season with 10 digs.
"Renata is relaxing now and getting comfortable with having new players on the floor," Shondell said. "She is playing very well and deserves a lot of credit for our success. Lynch is playing extremely well every night and is making it difficult for defenses by hitting a lot of different shots. Jacques looked good tonight and looked to be back to her normal self. Kelli had an outstanding night and did a lot of very good things for us."
The Boilermakers (16-3, 5-3 Big Ten) return to action on Wednesday when they play host to Illinois at 7 p.m.