Indiana University Athletics
Indiana University
Purdue
Hoosiers Fall to Purdue in West Lafayette
11/10/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
Nov. 10, 2010
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - For the first time since 2006, an Indiana-Purdue Volleyball match was decided in just three sets as the Boilermakers earned a 3-0 sweep (29-27, 25-23, 25-18) over IU Wednesday night in West Lafayette. The Hoosiers fall to 19-8 overall, 7-8 in Big Ten play. Vice versa, Purdue improves to 17-9 and 8-7.
Indiana fell behind early on in the opening set, but battled back to square things up at 23-23. The Hoosiers even earned a set point at 24-23 following back-to-back kills by Kelci Marschall. A pair of IU service errors in the closing points doomed Indiana, however. Purdue snuck out a 29-27 winner to jump ahead one set to none.
A slow start was not the issue in the second stanza as the Hoosiers grabbed five of the first six points. Purdue gradually battled their way back into the match though, ending the set with a 25-23 winning tally. After a trio of two-point sets lost against Purdue earlier this season, Wednesday night's second set marked the fifth straight two-point heart-breaker for Indiana against the Boilers.
Set number three was not so tight. Purdue came out firing from the service line and continued to force the Hoosier offense out of system consistently in the final frame. Indiana put together a few runs late to scare Purdue Head Coach Dave Shondell into burning his timeouts, but it was not enough as the Boilers clinched the match at 25-18.
Statistically, seniors Ashley Benson and Taylor Wittmer produced the best numbers. Benson put away seven kills to go along with three blocks. Meanwhile, Wittmer rejected a team-high five Boiler attacks and chipped in three kills. Setter Whitney Granado was able to record her third double-double of the season, posting 16 assists and 11 digs.
The Cream and Crimson return to Bloomington for a Saturday night showdown with Northwestern inside University Gym. That vital conference tussle is slated for a 7 p.m. start and will be streamed live on BigTenNetwork.com (a fee applies). In addition, IUHoosiers.com will also provide a free audio broadcast of the contest.
