Indiana University Athletics
Brewer Breaks Record, IU Falls
11/26/2003 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
November 26, 2003
Box Score
Bloomington, Ind. - On a night where senior Melissa Brewer became Indiana's all-time kills leader, the IU volleyball team dropped a four-game match to intrastate rival Purdue 30-24, 30-28, 28-30, 30-26. The loss drops the Hoosiers to 12-18 on the season and 5-14 in the Big Ten, and the Boilermakers go to 14-16 overall and 7-12 in the league.
"I thought Purdue came out and did a nice job," said Indiana head coach Katie Weismiller. "They just all took care of the ball. They did a pretty nice job of just mixing up their offense. I thought they were ready to play, and they got a nice win tonight."
Brewer closed out her Hoosier home career at University Gym in front of a season-high 1,007 fans on Senior Night and delivered 21 kills, hitting .400. The Bloomington, Ind., native broke Ryann Connors career kills mark with her 13th kill of the match to open game three. Brewer now has 1,542 kills in her remarkable career, eclipsing Connors' mark of 1,533.
"I thought it was great that Melissa set the all-time kills record," said Weismiller. "It is quite an accomplish. There are some great players that she passed. Her record is going to be hard to beat."
In addition to Brewer, seniors Nikki Hill, Beth Heimann and Monique Pritz turned in brilliant performances in their final home matches. Hill terminated a season-high 14 kills, while Heimann corralled 17 digs, the eighth time this season she has gathered 17-plus digs in a match. Pritz ended the evening with seven kills, three block assists and three digs.
Game one saw the Hoosiers jump out to a 9-6 lead before Purdue came back to even the match at 11-11. IU regained its lead at 18-16 when the Boilermakers used a 6-2 run to take control of the game.
Indiana closed the gap to two points at 24-22, but Purdue closed out the game scoring six of the final eight points for the 30-24 win.
Brewer led the Hoosiers with a game-high six kills on nine attempts, good for a .667 hitting percentage.
The second game was a seesaw affair featuring 12 ties and nine lead changes. Once again the teams ran off to an 11-11 tie and remained even at 18-18 when the Boilermakers gained a 20-18 lead it would not relinquish.
IU evened the score at 21-21 after a Purdue error, but the Boilermakers scored four of the next five points to take a 25-22 advantage. The teams exchanged the next four points when junior Katie Pollom sparked a Hoosier run. Pollom delivered three kills to cut the deficit to 28-27, but Indiana could not draw any closer and Purdue took a 2-0 lead in the match with a 30-28 win.
The Hoosiers responded in game three, but not before the Boilermakers opened up a 14-11 lead. Junior Christina Archibald drilled two kills and Brewer added a kill of her own contributing to a 7-3 run that gave IU an 18-17 lead.
However, Purdue stormed back, reeling off seven of the next 11 points for a three-point lead at 24-21. But this time, Indiana would not be denied. Brewer and Archibald terminated two kills apiece and the Hoosiers took a 26-24. The teams split the final eight points of the game and Indiana forced a fourth game with a 30-28 victory.
Game four started promising for IU as it took an early 8-6 lead. The Boilermakers rallied to even the match at 13-13 before going on a seven-point run Indiana never could recover from.
Two kills by Brewer and a kill by Hill and Archibald closed the gap to 26-23, but Purdue scored the next two points and never looked back, winning the game 30-26 and the match, 3-1.
Despite the loss, the Hoosiers set a new team season high with 77 digs. Archibald closed out the match with a season-high 17 digs to go along with her 15 kills, good for her seventh double-double of the season. Freshman Sara Diehl continued the defensive theme. The Bloomington, Ind., native recorded a career-high 15 digs in her second match this season with 10 or more digs.
"We just have to move on," said Weismiller. "We have one more match remaining in this season, and we just have to move and give it all we got."
Up next, IU moves on to Madison, Wis., for its season finale against the Wisconsin Badgers (19-10, 11-7 Big Ten). The Badgers won a five-game thriller early this season in Bloomington 29-31, 31-29, 30-19, 27-30, 15-12.
