Boilers take down IU 3-1, keep Monon Spike trophy

By Staff Reports

Publication Date: 11/05/2009

The Monon Spike will continue to live in West Lafayette for another year.

After dropping the first set, the Purdue volleyball team put together three-straight sets to defeat in-state rival Indiana, 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-20, 25-19), Wednesday night in Bloomington, Ind.

The win snaps Purdue’s four-match skid and gives the Boilers a 51-33 series lead against the Hoosiers.

“It’s nice to bring (the Monon Spike) back,” coach Dave Shondell said. “It’s back where it belongs certainly.”

Tied at 18 apiece late in the first set, Indiana went on a 7-2 run, winning the set with an ace by sophomore libero Caitlin Cox. Purdue’s downfall in that first set, according to Shondell, was allowing Indiana to serve as many aces as it did.

“They served the ball really, really tough,” Shondell said. “They had six service aces in the first set, and that’s more than we should give up in a match. They were serving rockets and they were really going back and ripping the ball and it was giving our passers a tough job to do.

“But (our passers) settled down very nicely as the matches went on and that was a big difference.”

In the second set, the Boilers gave up a four-point lead, 12-8, and allowed the Hoosiers to take a two-point, 21-19 lead late before Purdue rallied back with three kills and three blocks to win the set.

Purdue got into a 9-4 deficit early in the third set before rallying back to tie it up, 11-11. That was the key point in the match, according to Shondell, as the two teams kept the set close until the Boilers went on a 6-1 run after an attack error by Purdue tied the game at 19.

After losing a 7-3 lead in the fourth, allowing the Hoosiers to tie the game at eight, Purdue went on a 13-4 run to take the largest lead in the match, 21-12, and seal the win.

Sophomore defensive specialist Emily Ehlers said the big lead in the fourth set, and winning two-straight sets, gave her team the momentum it needed to come home with a victory.

“In the fourth set, I think once we got them down in the beginning, they kind of lost hope and I think that contributed to our victory.”

Ehlers led the Boilers with 24 digs. The Boilers out blocked the Hoosiers, 31-10, with junior Kristen Arthurs and freshman Anna Drewry getting eight blocks each. Freshman outsider hitter Ariel Turner led the team with 12 kills, while Drewry added 10.

Purdue will next play Minnesota at 2 p.m. on Sunday in Minneapolis, Minn.