Nov. 24, 2007
EVANSTON, Ill. - The Boilermaker volleyball team needed a victory against Northwestern Saturday night to clinch third place in the Big Ten, its best conference finish since 1990. Purdue battled back after losing game one to take a 3-1 win by scores of 29-31, 30-21, 30-28, 30-24 to achieve the milestone, last accomplished when the current freshmen were one year old.
Sophomore Carrie Gurnell led Purdue with 14 kills on a .355 hitting effort, while junior Danita Merlau posted 12 putdowns and senior Samantha Mader added 11.
Defensively, junior Kelli Miller pulled up 19 digs, while Merlau added 17 to round out her double-double. At the net, junior Stephanie Lynch chalked up seven blocks, while freshmen Jaclyn Hart and Kristen Arthurs added five each.
"I thought this was a real gutsy effort by our team," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We have stressed to our team all you the need to be mentally tough and tonight they were. I though several of our players did a great job tonight. Somewhere in Game 2 our block came alive and we started to take control at the net. Not only did that allow points for us, but it got into their hitters heads and was a big factor.
"To finish third in the meat grinder that has been the Big Ten this season is incredibly satisfying for both myself and our 17 players. The impact of this third place finish is that it keeps our momentum going. These seniors had a hand in getting us a third place finish and leave that legacy of improving us from an eighth place finish when they came in."
The Boilermakers came out of the gates on fire, scoring the first five points of the match on kills by Gurnell and a kill and a block by Gray. Purdue continued to build its lead, going up by as many as seven at 15-8. Northwestern countered with a 7-0 run to tie the game at 15-15. A net violation stopped the rally, but the Wildcats managed three in a row to go up 18-16. The Boilermakers capitalized on a pair of NU hitting errors to tie it up at 20, but could not break through, instead finding themselves on the short end of a 28-22 score. Purdue would not go quietly, however, posting a 7-1 run and denying three Northwestern game-point attempts, to tie the score at 29. Gray served up an ace and Arthurs added a kill and a block in the stretch. The comeback was not to be as a pair of Wildcat kills gave Northwestern the 31-29 victory. Gurnell led the Boilermakers with five kills in the stanza as Purdue outhit Northwestern .273 to .182.
The Wildcats took the early 3-1 lead in Game 2, only to see Purdue rack up seven of the next eight points to seize a 8-4 advantage. Northwestern evened the score at 8-8 with a 4-0 run of its own. The Boilermakers responded with a 9-3 rally to take a 17-11 lead. Four different Purdue players posted kills in the stretch. Purdue led by eight at 23-15 after a kill and a block by Mader and continued on to a 29-20 advantage. A Wildcat kill thwarted the Boilermakers' first game-point attempt, but Lynch put down the game winner at 30-21. Merlau led Purdue with six kills in the stanza.
Northwestern owned a 14-7 advantage midway through Game 3, but the Boilermakers began chipping away at the deficit, eventually tying the score at 22-22. Six Wildcat miscues contributed to the Boilermaker comeback, which also featured three Purdue blocks. NU led 23-20, when Purdue mounted a 4-0 run to go ahead 26-23. The Wildcats made it a two-point game at 28-26, before a service error gave Purdue its first chance at the game. A pair of Boilermaker miscues kept the game going, before Northwestern tallied a hitting error to give Purdue the 30-28 win.
Purdue started Game 4 with a 6-0 run including an ace by Miller, a block by Gurnell and Lynch and four NU miscues. Northwestern tied it up at 16-16, but the Boilermakers rebounded with a 10-4 run including a pair of blocks to take a 26-20 lead. A block by Hart and Lynch made it 29-21, but the Wildcats fought off three Purdue match-point attempts to keep hope alive. Purdue called a timeout at that point and Northwestern supplied a service error out of the break to cap the 30-24 Boilermaker win.
The Boilermakers (18-13, 11-9 Big Ten) must now watch the NCAA Tournament Selection Show on Sunday night to see where the postseason where take them.