St Louis @ Purdue

[IdahoBoy]

So, no thread on this? It is available over audio.

purduesports.cstv.com/sports/w-volley/sched/pur-w-volley-sched.html

Purdue is up 2-0 (handily) at intermission.

30-21, 30-20

[Mix Breed-TEXAS,HI,LBSU]

Kool.............

[IdahoBoy]

It's close in game 3. Purdue leads 27-26

[Phaedrus]

Well, I thought Billikens would be able to steal one from theBoilers, no such luck. SLU had a stellar year regardless, I think this was their first trip to the big dance so great season ladies. Goodluck Purdue!!

[BoilerUp!]

Thanks for the good luck wishes!

I don't know what the coach said at the break, but SLU came out very fired up for game 3. They played with a lot of heart.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

Purdue stormed out to a 6 - 0 and 8 - 1 lead in game 1, and coasted the rest of the way. Note that SLU played mostly even after that, but the game wasn't very interesting.

The second game started closer, but SLU played pretty poorly throughout, just giving nothing. Merlau pretty much hit at will, and Purdue's serving kept SLU way out of synch.

As BoilerUp notes, game 3 was a different story. St Louis started playing a little better defense, getting a few blocks and digging a lot more balls. Both teams were fairly sloppy, I thought, and this favored SLU moreso than Purdue. Ironically, Kelli Miller's serve reception, which really stunk in games 1 and 2, got much better in game 3, but then the rest of the team got out of control with bodies flying all over the place, and rarely where they should have been.

Purdue was down 26 - 24 before ripping off 5 straight to go up 29 - 26, but then SLU pulled off 4 straight to go up 30 - 29. Purdue scored the last three with Lindsey Shondell serving.

I think Purdue's strong start kind of shocked SLU at the beginning, and it took their coach's break comments to remind them to play like they could. Game 3 was probably more representative of what they are capable of doing when they play right, but thankfully they couldn't do that from the start.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

BTW, was there still GT problems for this match? Purdue uses gametracker normally with few problems nowadays, but for the tournament, they have had to change their connection and it runs through the NCAA account at CSTV. Therefore, they had to do some overall of the standard procedures.

[midwestvbfan]

Good luck to Purdue this evening. It should be a great match-up with them and Kentucky. KY's middles will give Purdue all they can handle with their speed and athleticism, but in the end, Purdue's ball control with the varied weapons they have will win out. I was unable to make last nights match and noticed Jacques did not play again. Is she hurt or sick. I remember a few weeks ago she was out with a virus or something along those lines. She will be needed to help stop Kentucky's middle attack.

[The Bofa on the Sofa]

Kentucky's middles really had a field day against Ohio, yes, but then again, Ohio's middles aren't the strongest around, either. Certainly not up to Purdue's qualities. UK's middles are very good (Britenriker has been a pain for Purdue in the past) but I don't think it will be as easy for them as it was last night.

Jacques is cleared to play but did not play last night, probably because they felt she wasn't needed. John Shondell said in his post game radio comments (Dave was in the press conference) that Lizzie is ready to go if they need her. I'm assuming they will need her tonight (although Williams did ok last night)

[bucky415]

I think Purdue will manage to win against Kentucky, although the middles might pose a problem for them. I think the Boilers should be able to bring enough pressure from the service line to take the middles out of it somewhat. Britenriker can be tough offensively, but I think Purdue should also be able to hit over her as well. If they can get Lynch some good sets, they should win. I hope Jacques is able to go for them.

[BoilerUp!]

I agree with your analysis on the middles. But, if Carrie (.571) and Emily (5 blocks) together can make up Liz's numbers, then I hope Lizzie gets to rest another week.

Last night, it was amazing to see Danita being able to hit as hard as she wanted, because she was hitting over the block. With the Big Ten, she would end up tipping over the tall block, which got points, don't get me wrong. But it was very impressive to see her hit hard last night. If she hits like that against Kentucky, and we get our serves in, we will be in great shape. Stephanie and the other Middles should be able to get some blocks on the Kentucky middles, and they looked like the most impressive of the KY hitters. Queen (#20) looked tough. And Britenriker was #21? Yeah, she looked good, too.