Dec. 1, 2007
ATHENS, Ohio - A third-straight trip to the Sweet 16 was not in the cards for the Boilermaker volleyball team, which fell to No. 17 Cal Poly Saturday night. The Mustangs won the match 30-12, 30-14, 30-27.
Purdue ends the season at 19-14 after advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round for the fourth-straight year. The Boilermakers posted an 11-9 Big Ten mark, good for a third-place finish, its best since 1990. Samantha Mader, Anne Mastandrea and Elizabeth Jacques wrapped up their Purdue careers as the first seniors to lead their squad to four-straight NCAA Tournament berths since the 1985 class.
"This was one of those matches that you didn't want anyone to have to watch," head coach Dave Shondell said. "This is not what we expected, but when you play with the goals and aspirations we have, you run into great teams. Cal Poly was much better prepared tonight, than we were. I wish we have played better, like we did in Game 3, the rest of the match, but the best team won tonight."
Sophomore Carrie Gurnell led Purdue with 11 kills on a .320 hitting night, while junior Stephanie Lynch added seven kills and three blocks. Defensively, junior Kelli Miller tallied 14 digs, followed by junior Danita Merlau and freshman Jessica Ullrich, who registered 13 and 10 respectively.
"They have a very strong serving game," Miller said. "They were relentless hitting and never gave us much of a chance to get into our offense."
Cal Poly led 9-3 in the early stages of Game 1 with help from three aces. Purdue called a timeout and then scored four straight out of the break, including three on kills by senior Samantha Mader, to go cut the margin to two at 9-7. The Mustangs, however, rolled on to the 30-12 win. One bright spot in the stanza was a solo block by sophomore setter Sam Gray, which made it 16-8. Cal Poly posted a .417 hitting effort and six aces in the game.
The Mustangs carried the momentum into Game 2, scoring the opening four points of the game. The Boilermakers scored three of the next four points, including two putdowns by Gurnell, to make it 5-3. Cal Poly countered with a 14-4 run to go up by 12 at 19-7. Purdue took a timeout and scored five of the next six to cut make it an eight-point game at 20-12. The Mustangs, however, wrapped up the stanza at 30-14.
The Boilermakers registered five of the first eight points out of intermission, including kills by Lynch, redshirt freshman Lisa Pierce and freshman Kristen Arthurs. Purdue held the advantage, leading 10-8 after a rally that included back-to-back kills by Gurnell. Cal Poly scored four in a row to take a 12-10 lead of its own. The Mustangs continued on to a seven-point advantage at 21-14. The Boilermakers then clicked into gear, rattling off nine of the next 11 points to knot the score at 23-23 on a kill by Gurnell. Lynch had two kills and a solo block in the stretch. Cal Poly pushed its lead to four at 28-24, but a block by freshman Jaclyn Hart and Lynch and a Mustang hitting error cut the deficit to two. A kill by Kylie Atherstone set up match point for Cal Poly at 29-26. Arthurs countered with a putdown of her own to keep the match going, but Dominique Olowolafe ended the Boilermakers season with a kill to give the Mustangs the 30-27 win.
Purdue ends the season at 19-14 after advancing to the NCAA Tournament second round for the fourth-straight year. The Boilermakers posted an 11-9 Big Ten mark, good for a third-place finish, its best since 1990. Samantha Mader, Anne Mastandrea and Elizabeth Jacques wrapped up their Purdue careers as the first seniors to lead their squad to four-straight NCAA Tournament berths since the 1985 class.