Boilermaker Volleyball Couldn't Pull Another Win Off

After their win against Indiana on Friday, Purdue volleyball could not pull another win off this past weekend against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Penn State is the winner of the NCAA record of 54 straight matches who have not lost a set in 28 matches so far this season. They topped the Boilermakers off with a 3-0 win.

The first match ended with a 25-20 loss over the Nittany Lions. Penn State took the lead early on during this match to 16-9. The Boilermakers did not let that put them down. They came back and closed the lead with the help from Stephanie Lynch and Danita Merlau with kills, and Jaclyn Hart with an ace (a non returnable serve that drops or is not playable) to 17-14. Then the Nittany Lions pulled up 6 more points and had the score of 23-17. The set ended on a service error from Purdue.

Penn State led the first four points in the second set, but shortly after that the Boilermakers came back and tied up the game 6-6 with the help of Purdue’s blockers at the net. Lisa Pierce, Lynch, and Carrie Gurnell all assisted in the three blocks. The Nittany Lions found there way once again to pull ahead by getting the next 8 points out of the 12, making the score 14-10. The Boilermakers made it a one point game after that to a 14-13. Penn State then pulled away and the score was 23-16, and in the end a kill by Megan Hodge ended the set with a final score of 25-21, Penn State.

The start of the third and final set of the night started out a little better for the Boilermakers. They scored 3 out of the first 4 points. Two of those points came from a pair of blocks, Merlau also helped by putting down some kills. With the score 6-4, the Boilermakers let in and let the Nittany Lions score the next 9 points, making the score 13-6. Shortly after that 9 point lead, the Boilermakers came back and closed the gap 16-11. Arthurs ended the rally at 24-14 with a kill, but Hodge came right back and ended the third set of the night with a kill. The final score was 25-15.

After this match, Purdue’s records are 21-7 overall, and 10-6 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers next game is home at 7 p.m. on Wednesday against Big Ten rivalry Illinois Fighting Illini.