Sept. 28, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 13 Boilermakers moved to 3-0 in Big Ten play with a four-set win over Northwestern Friday night. Five players tallied more than seven digs in the match, while three reached double-digit dig tallies.
The Boilermakers outdid the Wildcats in every statistical category, including outhitting NU .301 to .182 and outblocking the team 11-5.
Senior Ariel Turner tallied a team-best 19 kills to go with her 17 digs. Redshirt junior Catherine Rebarchak added 13 kills, while freshman Annie Drews downed 10. Sophomore Kiki Jones added nine putaways and four blocks, while senior Anna Drewry registered seven to go with her team-leading seven block effort. Drews also chalked up five blocks.
Freshman Amanda Neill earned her first start and racked up a team-best 18 digs and an ace in her collegiate debut. Turner followed with 17 digs and redshirt junior libero Carly Cramer added 11 digs and an ace. Redshirt senior Amanda Miller served up a two aces and chipped in five digs.
Purdue hit at a .500 clip in Set 1, while holding Northwestern to a .143 effort in a 25-18 win. Turner put away six kills, while Drews and Drewry added four apiece. The Wildcats took the early lead, going ahead by five at 11-6, before the Boilermakers turned things around with a 10-3 run. Drews and Turner each put down three kills in the rally, while Jones teamed up on a block with Rebarchak to put Purdue in front 15-14. A service error stopped the Boilermakers momentarily, but a Wildcat serving miscue and two kills and a stuff by Drewry made it 20-16. Northwestern cut the margin to two at 20-18, but Purdue capped the set with five straight points, including a pair of Turner kills and a Drewry/Drews block.
Five Boilermakers tallied two or more kills in Set 2 as Purdue took another 25-18 victory. The Boilermakers hit .387 in the balanced attack. Northwestern led 4-2, but Purdue quickly turned the tables with a 4-0 run, including two blocks by Jones, to vault ahead 6-4. The Wildcats tied it up at seven and eight, but couldn't overtake the Boilermakers. Purdue boosted its advantage to five at 19-14 as Rebarchak downed a trio of kills and Jones tacked on a pair. The teams split the next six points to make it 22-17, but an ace by Miller, a Wildcat hitting error and a Turner kill gave Purdue the 2-0 lead in the match.
Northwestern battled back to take a 25-21 win after the break, leading the set from start to finish, save a 1-0 Purdue lead. The Boilermakers scored first, but the Wildcats scored four in a row on two kills and two Purdue miscues to go up 4-1. The Boilermakers cut the margin to one four times, last at 9-8, but NU scored four straight to make it 13-8. Northwestern led by seven at 18-11 when Purdue used its final timeout. The Boilermakers scored six of the next eight out of the break to pull within three at 20-17 on kills by Jones, Rebarchak and Drews and a pair of Wildcat errors. Down five at 23-18, a Rbearhcak kill and a block by Drews and Drewry gave Purdue new life, but a pair of Stephanie Holthus kills stole away the set at 25-21.
Purdue finished off the four-set win in a back-and-forth 25-22 final set victory. The teams traded points over the first 26 serves, with neither gaining more than a two-point edge. Rebarchak downed four kills in a span of six points to give Purdue a 16-13 advantage. The Wildcats tied it up at 16 and even took a brief lead at 18-17. A 3-0 run including an ace by Neill, and a block by Drewry and Drews put the Boilermakers back on top at 20-18. Turner put down two kills and Cramer and Miller each added a service ace as Purdue went up 24-20. A kill and a block by the Wildcats kept the match going, but a Jones putaway sealed the win.
The No. 13 Boilermakers (12-2, 3-0 Big Ten) face off with No. 21 Illinois live on the Big Ten Network at 8 p.m. ET Saturday.