Sept. 8, 2007
CLEMSON, S.C. - The Boilermakers topped the Clemson Tigers 3-2 Saturday to take the Big Orange Bash title. Purdue edged the Tigers 30-21, 26-30, 28-30, 30-28, 15-12 as Danita Merlau became the first Boilermaker player since 2002 to post 20 kills and 20 digs in the same match, with a 23 kill, 24 dig effort.
Junior Stephanie Lynch led all hitters with 26 kills on a .407 hitting effort. Merlau followed with 23, while senior Sam Mader added 15 putdowns. Junior Kelli Miller racked up nine kills to go with a team-best 24 digs. Merlau (24), senior Anne Mastandrea (19), freshman Jessica Ullrich (17) and Jaclyn Hart (15) also bolstered the Purdue defense. Lynch led the Boilermakers at the net with four blocks, while Ullrich added three aces to her career-best dig tally.
In the deciding fifth game, Purdue jumped out to a 3-0 lead, including an ace by Mastandrea. The Tigers evened the score at 3-3, marking the first of seven ties in the game. Clemson went up 6-5, but Purdue scored three of the next four to go back on top 8-7. The teams tied at eight and nine, before back-to-back hitting miscues and a block by Lynch and Gurnell put the Boilermakers up three at 12-9. Clemson took its second timeout and came out of the break with two-straight points, prompting a Purdue break. A pair of Tiger errors set up Purdue's first chance at match point. Hart bounced a kill off the top of the net to slam the door at 15-12. Clemson outhit Purdue .130 to .053 in the stanza, but served up three errors to make up the difference for the Boilermakers.
"Our players dug deep and played with a lot of guts and heart," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We did not play very well tonight, but we hung in there and made runs when we had to, especially in Game 3. Although we didn't win that game, we came back from down 11 to make it close. Ullrich did a great job from the service line to put us back in it and Lynch played an outstanding match.
"We knew we had some good matchups with Lynch and she hit over .400. She is our go-to player right now and she did her job out there tonight. Kelli Miller also played well and after a shaky start, Annie Mastandrea got better and better throughout."
Trailing 8-6 in Game 1, the Boilermakers racked up five straight points, including a pair of kills by Mader to turn the deficit into a 11-8 advantage. Clemson cut the margin to one at 13-12, but Purdue pulled away, going up by seven at 24-17 after a pair of aces and kills from a variety of sources. The teams split the next six points, then Purdue capitalized on a pair of Tiger miscues to set up game point at 29-20. A kill thwarted the effort, but a Mader putdown gave the Boilermakers a 30-21 win. Merlau racked up six kills in the game, while Mader added five.
Purdue took a 9-6 lead to start Game 2, but Clemson tied the score at 9-9, marking the first of nine knotups in the stanza. A Tiger miscue along with kills by Lynch and Miller put the Boilermakers up three at 12-9, but Clemson responded with a 5-0 run of its own to take a 14-12 lead. Three straight Purdue points put the team back on top 15-14. The Tigers, however, took the lead at 20-18 and maintained the edge en route to a 30-26 win. A kill by senior Elizabeth Jacques (Winfield, Ill.) held off Clemson's first chance at the game at 29-25, but a putdown by Meghan Steiner evened the match at a game apiece. Mader and Lynch each posted six kills in the game.
Clemson scored the first six points of Game 3 and went on to an 11-point advantage at 25-14. Down 26-15, the Boilermakers began a comeback effort, scoring nine of the next 11 to slice the margin to four at 27-23. A pair of Purdue miscues made it 29-23, but Lynch put the Boilermakers on her back and kept the game alive with five straight kills to put the score at 29-28. The comeback effort was thwarted, however, as Danielle Hepburn tallied a kill to end the game at 30-28.
The Boilermakers carried the momentum into Game 4, going up 10-4 to start the stanza. Clemson clawed back to within one at 12-11 prompting a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers scored five of the next seven points out of the break, including a pair of kills by Merlau, to go up 17-13. Merlau added two more putdowns as Purdue led 20-16. The Tigers fought back to within one at 21-20 and remained close. Down 24-23, Clemson matched the Boilermakers point for point leading to a 28-27 score. A Tiger service error made it 29-27 Purdue, but the Boilermakers had to wait two more points to seal the game at 30-28 on a kill by Lynch.
The Boilermakers (6-3) return to action at 4:30 p.m. Friday when they take on Oregon in the opening match of the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge in Columbus, Ohio.