University of Louisville
Purdue
Volleyball Edged 3-2 by No. 14 Purdue
September 16, 2011 | Women's Volleyball
Sept. 16, 2011
Lola Arslanbekova's 20 kills, 13 digs, two aces and two blocks were not enough as U of L fell 3-2 to No. 14-ranked Purdue in the first match of the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge Friday evening in Huff Hall in Champaign, Ill.
"We came out and competed," said U of L head coach Anne Kordes. "We had stretches of greatness and everyone showed sparks of just how good we can be. It was a full team effort and we can build on this experience in the future."
U of L (8-3) hit .157, outblocked the Boilers 10.5-8.5 and recorded nine aces. Emily Juhl joined Arslanbekova in double digit kills with 11. Caitlin Welch had 13 digs. Purdue remains unbeaten at 10-0 with the 21-25, 25-19, 25-18, 16-25, 15-10 win. The Boilers were paced by Ariel Turner's 20 kills.
U of L withstood a 6-0 Purdue run midway through the first set, trailing 12-10, but nine kills by Lola Arslanbekova kept U of L in the hunt and they took the lead for good at 16-15. PU came within one at 20-19 when Brooke Mattingly was blocked after a Boiler ace to force a timeout. The Cards regrouped and had a 5-2 run with three Lola kills to get to set point at 24-21. Emily Juhl tipped to the middle for set point. The Cardinals hit .261 in the set with three aces.
The Cards fell behind 15-10 midway through the second set and had used both their timeouts before a 5-1 run brought them back to within two at 17-15. A frigid hitting percentage of .037 did little to help the cause. The Boilers held Arslanbekova to three of U of L's seven kills for the set. Purdue's four service errors and two receiving errors gave the Cardinals hope before falling 25-19.
Purdue used a 5-1 run to go up 15-10 in the third set. The Cards scrapped their way back into the set with a 3-0 run to comewithin three at 15-13 but had no answer for Ariel Turner who had five of PU's last nine points. U of L staved off set point three times but a service error by Juhl ended the rally as the Cards fell 25-18. U of L hitting stayed icy at .029 to the Boilers' .314. Turner had seven kills in the set to pace PU.
In the fourth set, U of L blew out to a 19-10 lead and then held off a furious PU rally to get within five at 19-14 and force a Cardinal timeout. U of L put together a 5-1 run and two straight Lola kills gave U of L the 25-16 win and forced a fifth set. U of L hit .310 in the set and had two blocks.
In the fifth set, U of L led 7-5 before Purdue went on a 6-0 run and took a 10-7 lead. Brooke Mattingly scored twice more for the Cards and a miss by Emily Ehlers took the Cardinals to 13-10, but a block and a kill by Turner were good for set and match point.
U of L is back in action tomorrow at 8 p.m. ET when it takes on the No. 3-ranked and undefeated Illinois team.
