purduesports.collegesports.com/sports/w-volley/recaps/090204aaa.htmlWEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - After almost a year of waiting, the Boilermaker volleyball team got another crack at the Butler Bulldogs, who edged them last season in Indianapolis. Purdue made good on its opportunity to avenge the loss with a 3-1 win over Butler Wednesday night, taking the match 28-30, 30-25, 30-21, 30-25.
The Boilermakers used a balanced attacked and outstanding defense in the win, as four players posted double-figure kill tallies as the team hit .316 for the match and out-dug the Bulldogs 80 to 63.
Senior Kim McConaha (Centerville, Ind.) led the Purdue effort with 19 kills, 14 digs and seven blocks. Leah Wischmeier (Jr., Brownstown, Ind.), Kim Cappa (Sr., West Lafayette, Ind.) and Lizzie Jacques (Fr., Winfield, Ill.) put up kill totals of 16, 11 and 10 respectively. Freshman Annie Mastandrea (Downers Grove, Ill.) made a statement in her Purdue debut with a team-leading 19 digs.
[NOTE: Mastandrea didn't come in until the second game to replace Dildane in the back row; she moved to L in game 3 to replace Lauren Berg, who apparently broke her toe running into press row]
"I was in a zone out there," Mastandrea said. "I had a good feeling when I woke up this morning and I was just anxious to play. I just wanted to do my best and get in the game. My teammates kept me calm and talked to me to get me over my nerves and it worked."
Purdue fell behind early in Game 1, facing a 4-1 deficit, but fought back to take a 9-8 lead moments later. The teams traded points before Butler scored three straight points to take a 16-14 lead. The Bulldogs maintained at least a one-point advantage until a kill by Melanie Ukovich (So., Minooka, Ill.) and a block by Cappa and McConaha tied it up at 24. A Butler timeout gave the team new life as it went up by two right out of the break. A Wischmeier kill pulled Purdue within one at 28-27, then another one moments later thwarted Butler's first game point attempt. But, it was not to be as Areal Bienemy put down her eighth kill of the match to seal the 30-28 win for Butler.
"We started slow because our players were a little too high strung," head coach Dave Shondell said. "We dug ourselves in a hole, but Annie Mastandrea was really the difference. When she came in, the entire game changed. She was very alert and very quick and made plays happen. She was without a doubt the best player on our team tonight."
Game 2 brought a completely different Boilermaker team to the floor. Purdue started the game with a 2-0 lead and boosted its lead to three at 5-2. Butler answered with a 10-3 run to go up by four at 12-8. The Bulldogs held onto the lead, until the Boilermakers put together a 9-3 rally, capitalizing on five Butler errors and a service ace by Renata Dargan (Jr., New Lenox, Ill.), to take a 20-18 lead, which they would not relinquish. Purdue clinched the game on a service error by Bienemy. Cappa had five kills in the game.
Purdue continued their rally in Game 3, dominating the Bulldogs on both sides of the ball, hitting .341 to Butler's .044 effort and recording 26 digs and five blocks to Butler's totals of 13 and two. The Boilermakers scored five of the game's first six points, two each on kills by Wischmeier and McConaha. Butler cut the lead to two at 6-4, but Purdue would not slow down, instead expanding the point margin to seven at 16-9. The Bulldogs got back into the game, tying it at 18 after a series of Purdue miscues. A trio of McConaha kills put the Boilermakers up for good at 22-19. A solo block by Jacques and another by Jacques and fellow rookie Sammi Mader (Algonquin, Ill.) sparked the 5-0 run which closed out the game for Purdue. Wischmeier, who posted nine kills in the stanza, capped the 30-21 win with three straight putdowns.
The Boilermakers clinched the victory with a hard-fought 30-25 win in Game 4. Both offenses were at the top of their game, registering hitting percentages of .436 (Purdue) and .356 (Butler). The Bulldogs boasted 20 kills to Purdue's 19, but Mastandrea was the difference pulling up 11 digs after entering the match at libero.
Butler took the game's first point, but Purdue quickly turned the deficit into a four-point advantage at 9-5, capped by a pair of Mader kills. The Bulldogs pulled within one at 12-11 and remained close until kills by Mader and McConaha pushed the margin back to four. Kills by the freshmen, Jacques and Mader, made it a six-point game at 26-20. Butler made a late run for it, holding off two Purdue match-point attempts, before a kill by Cappa gave the Boilermakers the match.
"After Game 1, it looked like it was not going to be a good night," Shondell said. "We realized they were really only going to two people all night and made some good adjustments. Our defense definitely got better as the night went on."
Kali Carter put down 25 kills for Butler, while Bienemy accounted for 23 of the team's 64 kills in the match.
The Boilermakers (1-0) return to action Friday, when they take on No. 12 Georgia Tech at the Badger Challenge in Madison, Wis. First serve is slated for 5 p.m.
