University of Minnesota Athletics
Minnesota Defeats Purdue in Three Sets
11/8/2009 12:00:00 AM | Volleyball
The Minnesota volleyball team (19-7, 10-4) defeated Purdue in three sets by scores of 25-22, 25-22, 25-17 at the Sports Pavilion on Sunday, Nov. 8. It marked the Golden Gophers' ninth straight victory over Purdue.
Minnesota was led by junior Hailey Cowles (Eden Prairie, Minn.) who had 12 kills, seven digs and three blocks. Freshman outside hitter Tabitha Love (Dauphin, Manitoba) also had 10 kills, four digs and a block. Senior setter Taylor Carico (Manhattan Beach, Calif.) also collected 31 assists, 11 digs, two kills and a solo block.
Christine Tan (Safety Harbor, Fla.) and Jessica Granquist (Blaine, Minn.) finished with 12 and 11 digs respectively. Junior middle blocker Lauren Gibbemeyer (St. Paul, Minn.) had seven kills and three blocks in the match. Freshman Katherine Harms (Albertville, Minn.) also collected five kills in eight swings.
Minnesota outhit Purdue .252 to .167, and had 43 kills to 41 for the Boilermakers. The Golden Gophers also had 54 digs to 49 for Purdue, and outblocked the Boilermakers 6.0-to-5.0.
Purdue opened the match by jumping out to a 9-4 run in the first set. The Boilermakers maintained the five-point lead at 16-11. Minnesota scored four of the next five points to cut the lead to 17-15. Purdue scored the next two points to make it 19-15, and pushed its lead back to five points at 21-16.
Cowles and Megan Wilson (Lincoln, Neb.) answered with consecutive kills to make it 21-18. With the score at 22-18, Cowles, Carico and Gibbemeyer delivered kills to cut it to 22-21. After a pair of Boilermaker errors gave Minnesota a 23-22 lead, Gibbemeyer delivered a kill to make it set point. The Golden Gophers claimed the first set 25-22 when Purdue committed an attack error.
The Golden Gophers narrowly outhit Purdue .214 to .200, despite the fact that the Boilermakers had 15 kills to 14 for Minnesota. Minnesota collected 23 digs in the set to 21 for Purdue. Cowles had five kills in nine swings in the set, while Tan collected eight digs.
For a second straight set, the Boilermakers jumped out to an early lead at 7-2. With Purdue leading 12-9, Wilson and Cowles sandwiched kills around a Boilermakers attack error to tie the score at 12. Purdue pushed the lead back out to three points at 17-14, but the Golden Gophers answered with six of the next seven points to take a 20-18 lead.
With Purdue leading 18-16, Cowles delivered a kill and Carico came through with a service ace to tie the score at 18. Love and Carico followed with consecutive kills to make it 20-18. The Boilermakers cut the lead to 21-20, but Harms answered with a kill and Cowles and Gibbemeyer combined on a block to make it 23-20. Harms made it set point at 24-21 with a kill. Cowles put away the set at 25-22 with a kill.
The Golden Gophers outhit Purdue .209 to .167, and had 16 kills to 13 for the Boilermakers. Cowles led Minnesota with six kills in the set.
Early in the third set the score was 6-5, before the Golden Gophers went on a 5-0 run to move ahead 11-5. After a Purdue service error, Carico delivered a service ace. Filho, Love and Harms followed with kills to put Minnesota ahead by six points. The Golden Gophers expanded their lead out to 12 points at 19-7.
Purdue scored seven of the next 10 points to make it 22-16, but Love answered with a kill and Minnesota made it match point on an attack error by the Boilermakers. The Golden Gophers moved on to win the third set 25-17 on their way to claiming the three-set victory.
The Boilermakers were led by Ariel Turner who had 10 kills and six digs, while Kristen Arthurs had eight kills and four digs. Anna Drewry also had seven kills in 15 swings, while Blair Bashen had a team-high 12 digs. Jaclyn Hart also had 35 assists, three kills and three blocks.
Minnesota will be back in action when it travels to Iowa on Friday, Nov. 13 at 7 p.m. The Golden Gophers will also face Wisconsin on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 1 p.m.
