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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Morehead State volleyball team certainly gave eighth-ranked Purdue a reason to be on upset alert Friday night in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Despite being outmanned in the first two sets, the visiting Eagles, playing in their first-ever NCAA championship match, took the Boilermakers to the brink in the third frame before finally succumbing by two points, 25-23. Purdue used a healthy dose of net defense to win the first two sets, 25-16 and 25-15 as they advanced to the second round with the 3-0 win over the Eagles at Holloway Gym in front of a sellout crowd of 2,294 fans.
Purdue registered 11.5 blocks in the first two sets, leading to a negative hitting efficiency for the Eagles, but a change in the offensive game plan sparked MSU to a .342 attack percentage in the final set as it rallied back from a 19-12 deficit. The Eagles smashed 18 kills in the final stanza and saw Purdue only reject one attempt. MSU cut the Boilermaker advantage down to 23-22 and were serving for a tie at 24-23 before Big Ten Player of the Year Ariel Turner finished off the night with a kill.
“We talked all year long about how it’s not changing what we want to do, it’s about just finding our rhythm,” said MSU head coach Jaime Gordon. “Finally in that third set, we were able to get our middles more involved in the offense. We didn’t let Purdue get into a defensive rhythm like they had in the first two sets. I was really proud that we fought back in the third set.”
MSU closed its 2011 OVC championship season 26-8. The Boilermakers improved to 28-4 while advancing to face Louisville in the second round Saturday.
Purdue hit .240 in the opening set and upped their output to 14 kills and a .357 attack effort in the second. The Eagles had eight kills in the opening set and seven in the second, but the Boilermakers’ blocking caused 18 errors. MSU also totaled nine service errors in the match.
Junior outside hitter Ellie Roberson and redshirt freshman middle blocker Laura McDermott each tallied eight winners to lead MSU. Sophomore libero Leslie Schellhaas tied for match-best honors with 13 digs. Purdue only out-dug the Eagles 38-33.
Turner led the home team with 13 kills, while Valerie Nichol had 11 spikes off a .474 attack percentage. Purdue finished with a .349 hitting percentage and 12.5 blocks.
Tonight’s match concluded the prolific careers of seniors Emma Keough and Liz Schuler who both leave ranked among the school’s record books in several categories.
