Oct. 27, 2012
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 21 Boilermakers swept the season series with Michigan State, gutting out a five-set win over the Spartans on Belin Court Saturday night. Purdue won the match 16-25, 25-23, 32-30, 18-25, 15-11.
Purdue was topped by the Spartans in every major statistical category, but pulled off the win. Senior Ariel Turner tallied 20 kills, 11 digs and three blocks, while sophomore Val Nichol added a career-high tying 15 kills and an ace. Sophomore Kiki Jones chipped in nine kills and three blocks.
Redshirt junior Carly Cramer pulled up 17 digs, while Turner (11), freshman Amanda Neill (11) and junior Hilliary Fox (10) also picked up double-digit saves. Neill also managed two aces, while Cramer added one.
In the decisive fifth set, Purdue held the early edge at 4-2 after kills from Jones, Turner and redshirt junior Catherine Rebarchak, who ended the match with five putaways. Michigan State knotted it up at 4, 5 and 6 before taking a 9-7 lead with help from two Boilermaker miscues. Down 10-8, Purdue rattled off six straight points, thanks to a putaway and a solo stuff by Turner, three MSU hitting errors and an ace by Neill. A hitting error stopped the Boilermakers at 14-11, but Jones capped the win on the next play.
Michigan State led Set 1 nearly from the start, save a 2-1 Purdue edge, en route to a 25-16 win. The Spartans held Purdue to a .067 hitting percentage in the stanza. A kill and a solo block by Turner gave the Boilermakers their only lead, but MSU charged back to go ahead 8-4. It was a four-point game again at 14-10, but MSU scored seven of the next nine to go up 21-12. The teams split the final eight points of the set. A Drewry kill held off one Spartan chance at the stanza.
The Boilermakers got five kills each from Turner and Nichol and held off a late MSU rally in a 25-23 win. Purdue went up 3-1 to start the stanza, but found themselves trailing the Spartans 6-4 soon after. The Boilermakers scored four straight including a pair of Nichol putaways to go up 8-6 and never looked back. The teams traded points over the next 15 serves, before a kill by Nichol sparked a 4-0 Purdue run and gave the Boilers a 19-14 advantage. The Spartans cut the lead to one at 21-20 and 23-22, but a kill by Turner and an MSU hitting error two plays later clinched the Purdue win.
The Boilermakers won Set 3 32-30 on their sixth try, in a stanza that featured eight set-point attempts, 14 ties and 11 lead changes. Down 3-0, Purdue rallied to go up 6-5 sparked by a kill and a solo stuff by Rebarchak and a trio of MSU errors. The Spartans countered and pushed ahead by four at 12-8. The Boilermakers scored 10 of the next 13, including a trio of blocks as well as aces by Nichol and Neill, to take an 18-15 lead. Trailing 22-20, MSU scored three straight to nudge ahead 23-22. A kill by Turner and another from Rebarchak gave Purdue its first shot at the set at 24-23. Another Turner kill made it 25-24, but a kill and a block gave the Spartans a 26-25 edge. Turner came through again and MSU added an error to put the Boilermakers on top 27-26. Nichol gave Purdue its fourth chance at 28-27, but a pair of hitting errors brought MSU a 29-28 advantage. A Spartan service error and Nichol kill pulled the Boilers ahead 30-29, but MSU tied it at 30. Finally, Michigan State committed a service error and hitting error to give Purdue the 32-30 win. Turner had seven kills, while Nichol added five in the stanza.
Michigan State bounced back and dominated the fourth set, winning 25-18, while holding Purdue to a .075 hitting effort. The lead changed hands five times in the first 20 points, with neither team gaining more than a two-point edge. Down 9-7, Purdue scored three in a row, including two blocks to go up 10-9, and held on for a 12-10 lead after kills by Turner and Jones. MSU took over from there, scoring 13 of the next 15 points to vault ahead 23-14. A kill from Nichol and a Spartan error stopped the rally momentarily. Down 24-16, freshman Sam Epenesa gave the Boilers a boost with back-to-back slams, but a net violation ended the set.
The Boilermakers (16-7, 7-5 Big Ten) return to action at 8 p.m. ET Wednesday when they take on Illinois in Champaign, live on the Big Ten Network.