Sept. 21, 2007
MINNEAPOLIS - No. 12 Minnesota held off the Purdue volleyball team in a close match ‎Friday night. The Golden Gophers won the match 30-26, 30-28, 30-25.‎
Junior Danita Merlau and senior Samantha Mader led the Boilermaker offense with kill ‎tallies of 15 and 14 respectively. Junior Stephanie Lynch also contributed seven kills to ‎the effort. Defensively, senior Anne Mastandrea led the way with 13 digs, while junior ‎Kelli Miller pulled up 12. At the net, freshman Kristen Arthurs led the team with four ‎blocks. Sophomore Carrie Gurnell and Lynch each added three stuffs. ‎
In a game that featured eight ties and four lead changes, the Boilermakers made a late ‎charge, but the Gophers came out with a 30-26 win. The teams split the first 16 points, ‎before Minnesota took control with 10 of the next 15 points to go up 18-13. Purdue took ‎advantage of Gopher miscues to cut the margin to two at 18-16 and again at 23-21, but ‎Minnesota soon owned a 27-22 lead. The Boilermakers battled back with a 4-0 run, ‎which included kills by Mader and Merlau and a solo block by Arthurs, to make it 27-26. ‎A pair of blocks and a kill, however, sealed the Gopher win. Mader chalked up five kills ‎in the stanza, which featured five blocks by each team. ‎
The Gophers raced out to a 4-0 lead in Game 2, but Purdue quickly countered with four ‎points of its own, including an ace by Miller, to knot the score. Minnesota held a 14-12 ‎advantage, before the Boilermakers put together six points in a row to go up 18-14. ‎Mader, Lynch and Merlau chalked up kills during the stretch, but the lead dissolved into ‎an 18-18 tie soon after. The teams tied six more times, leading to a 24-24, befor the ‎Gophers took a 26-24 lead. A kill by Mader and a Gopher miscue knotted the score once ‎again at 26. Another Mader putdown tied the score at 27-27, but Minnesota capitalized on ‎Purdue miscues to go on to the 30-28 win. Merlau recorded seven kills in the game, while ‎Mader added six. ‎
Purdue took a 5-2 lead in Game 3, including an ace by Miller, but the Gophers rallied to ‎tie it up at 6-6. A block by Mader and freshman Jaclyn Hart and a kill by Merlau kept the ‎Boilermakers on top at 8-6. Minnesota then rattled off 11 of the next 14 points to take a ‎six point lead at 17-11. Down 21-14, Purdue used its second timeout of the stanza. After ‎the break, the Boilermakers outscored the Gophers 9-6 to cut the margin to four at 27-23 ‎and prompt a Minnesota timeout. Purdue held off Minnesota's first match point attempt ‎at 29-24 with a block by Arthurs and Mader, but could not halt a Gopher win, falling 30-‎‎25 on kill by Kyla Roehrig, her match high 19th of the night.‎
The Boilermakers return to action at 8 p.m. (EST) Saturday when they take on the Iowa Hawkeyes ‎in Iowa City, Iowa. ‎