University of Minnesota Athletics
VB: No. 5 Minnesota Volleyball Defeats Purdue in Three Games
11/19/2004 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
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The Minnesota volleyball team (25-4, 14-3) defeated Purdue (14-13, 7- 10) in three games by scores of 30-24, 30-25, 30-23 at the Sports Pavilion on Friday, Nov. 19. With the win, the Golden Gophers have now won 12 of its last 14 matches.
Minnesota remains in third place with a 14-3 Big Ten record. With a five-game victory tonight over Illinois, Ohio State is in second at 15-3. Penn State is in first at 15-2.
The Golden Gophers were led by Erin Martin (Ames, Iowa) who had 17 kills for the match. Trisha Bratford (Reseda, Calif.) hit .440 (14-3-25) with 14 kills on the match. Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) also had 13 kills on the night.
Paula Gentil (Forteleza Ceara', Brazil) had a match- high 24 digs. With the 24 digs, Gentil is now just seven away from tying the Big Ten career of 1,931 digs.
Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) had seven kills, 21 assists and 11 digs. Lindsey Taatjes (Prinsburg, Minn.) had 32 assists and 15 digs.
"We did a terrific job of containing Purdue's setter Renata Dargan," said Minnesota head coach Mike Hebert. "She likes to throw the ball on her second contact, and ignites the team by getting kills of that. I also felt our blocking scheme was good tonight. Purdue is a tough team that never quits and we did a good job of getting ahead and keeping the lead tonight."
Minnesota jumped out to an early 9-7 lead in the first game, but Purdue scored four of the next five points to take an 11-10 lead. The Golden Gophers responded with the next four points to move ahead 14-11. Minnesota extended the lead out to 18-13, before the Boilermakers scored six of the next nine points to cut it to 21-19. The Golden Gophers answered with six of the next eight points to push the lead out to 27-21. Purdue cut it to 28- 23, but Martin put away a kill to move it to game point at 29-23. After a Purdue point, Bratfrord ended the game with a kill to give Minnesota game one 30-24.
The Golden Gophers outhit Purdue .311 to .233 in the firs game, and had 20 kills to the Boilermakers 14. Martin and Bratford had six and five kills respectively, while Gentil had nine digs.
Minnesota jumped out to a slim 9-8 lead in game two, but rattled off six straight points with Gentil serving to move the score to 15-8. The Golden Gophers pushed the lead out even further to 22-11 with seven of the next 10 points. Purdue stormed back with 13 of the next 18 points to cut the lead down to 27-24. Martin halted the momentum with a kill, and Nelson and Bowman combined on a block to make it game point at 29-24. Purdue fought off game point to make it 29-25, but Martin ended the second with a kill to give Minnesota a 2-0 edge in the match.
The Golden Gophers limited Purdue to a .120 hitting percentage in the game, and had 23 kills to the Boilermakers 12. Nelson led the way with seven kills in the game, while Martin had six.
In the third game, Minnesota stormed out to a 12-4 lead. Purdue came back with eight of the next 11 to cut the lead to 15-12. Minnesota maintained its lead at 22-19, but the Golden Gophers gained momentum with a 5-0 run to go up 27-19. Minnesota started the when freshman middle blocker Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill) and Martin combined on a block, and Nelson and Taatjes followed with a block on the next play to make it 24-19. After an attack error by Purdue, Nelson and Martin had consecutive kills to push it to 27- 19. Purdue scored four of the next five points to cut it to 28-23, but Martin put down a kill to give Minnesota match point at 29-23. Purdue followed with an attack error to give the Golden Gophers game three 30-23.
Minnesota outhit Purdue for the match .270 to .139, and had 58 kills to the Boilermakers 44. The Golden Gophers also had 70 digs to Purdue's 54.
Melanie Ukovich had 13 kills for Purdue, while Kim McConaha had 10 kills, nine digs and six blocks. Setter Renata Dargan finished with 33 assists, four kills and seven digs.
Minnesota will be back in action against Indiana on Saturday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. in the Sports Pavilion. The Golden Gophers will honor their six seniors in a special ceremony after the match. Minnesota will host Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. The Buckeyes lead the Big Ten with a 12-1 conference record.