WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ? The University of Kentucky volleyball team saw its outstanding season come to an end tonight, Dec. 1, as it fell to No. 23 Purdue by a final of 3-0 (21-30, 28-30, 26-30) in a hard-fought match in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The Wildcats end the year with a 19-12 overall record, while the 14th-seeded Boilermakers improve to 23-10 and advance to the Seattle Regional next weekend.
The Wildcats even their all-time NCAA Tournament record at 8-8 all-time after defeating Ohio 3-2 in the tournament?s opening round last night in West Lafayette.
Sophomore Ashlee Fisher led the Wildcats with a team-high 14 kills on .219 hitting. Sophomore middle blocker Queen Nzenwa added eight kills and four block assists, while senior Jenni Casper recorded a team-high 15 digs. Sophomore Alisa Pierce chipped in with 10 digs, while sophomore Tess Edwards added six kills and six total blocks in the loss. Freshman setter Sarah Rumely finished with six digs, 36 assists and three kills for the Cats. Senior Melissa Popp came off the bench to record five kills and two digs in the season finale.
Purdue outhit the Wildcats .260-.172 and recorded 14 blocks to 10 for Kentucky.
?It is always disappointing to be in a losing situation,? UK Coach Craig Skinner said. ?As I told our players, when you make the NCAA Tournament, unless you win the National Championship, you are going to end your season with a loss. Purdue is a very good team and they did a nice job of making adjustments. I am proud of our players for not backing down. We had a tough first game, but battled and competed. We had a great season, and one of our goals was to go farther in the NCAA Tournament than we had before ? and we did that. I am proud of our team for competing until the end.?
The Boilermakers opened the match with a 9-3 run which prompted an early Wildcat timeout. Nznewa hammered down a delivery from Rumely out of the break to snap the Purdue scoring streak. The Wildcats continued to chip away at the Purdue lead and cut the lead to four, 11-7, after a kill by Britenriker, a block assist by Britenriker and Rumely. A kill by Rumely on a pass from Pierce, followed by a service ace from Heather Hausfeld pulled the Wildcats within three at 12-9, but the Boilermakers used a 4-1 run to push the lead back to six, 16-10. Nznewa and Fisher used back-to-back kills to make it a four-point game, 16-12, but Purdue scored four unanswered to take a 20-12 edge. The Boilermakers continued to build their lead and went on top by 10 at 27-17 before the Wildcats made one last run and cut the margin to eight, 28-20, after a pair of putdowns by Nznewa and Fisher. That was as close as Kentucky would come as Purdue held on for the 30-21 game one win.
Purdue jumped out to an early 8-5 lead in game two but a kill by Hausfeld and a block assist by Britenriker and Hausfeld cut the Boilermaker lead to one at 8-7. PU then scored two unanswered to make it a three-point lead before a kill by Rumely coupled with three straight Boilermaker errors tied the score at 11-all. Purdue used a 3-1 run to take a 14-12 lead before the Wildcats scored five straight on a Jenni Casper ace, a kill by Nzenwa and two block assists by Edwards and Nzenwa to give UK a 17-14 lead and force the Boilermakers to use a timeout. Purdue made a 4-1 run out of the break to tie the score at 18-18. A kill on the angle by Hausfeld gave UK a 19-18 lead but the Boilermakers would score three of the next five to take a 22-21 lead which resulted in a Wildcat timeout.
A powerful kill by Fisher and a Boilermaker hitting error gave the Cats a 23-22 advantage, but Purdue answered with a 3-0 run to take a 25-23 lead and force Kentucky to use its final timeout of the game. Skinner inspired his Cats who promptly scored four of the next five points behind the strength of a Fisher kill and three straight outstanding plays by Tess Edwards. The sophomore had a pair of kills and a block solo to give Kentucky a 27-26 lead and cause the Boilermakers to use their final timeout of the game. Purdue tied the score at 27 with a kill out of the break and took a 29-27 lead after a UK hitting error and another Boilermaker kill. A PU ball handling error made it a one-point game at 29-28, but a kill by Purdue would end game two at 30-28 and put the Wildcats down 2-0 heading into the third game.
Purdue took an early 4-0 lead in game three but the Wildcats rallied to tie the score at 6-6 after two powerful kills by Fisher. A net violation by PU and another kill by Fisher gave Kentucky an 8-6 lead but back-to-back UK hitting errors tied the score again at 8-8. The Wildcats put together a 7-2 run to take its largest lead of the game at 15-11. The Boilermakers cut the lead to two, 18-16, before a kill by Nznewa halted the Purdue comeback but the Boilers would not back down and shaved the lead to one at 19-18. Kentucky pushed the lead back to three, 21-18, after a kill by Melissa Popp and a block assist by Britenriker and Edwards which forced a Purdue timeout. Kentucky scored two consecutive points out of the break on a putdown by Popp and a Boilermaker hitting error to give the Wildcats a 23-18 lead and cause Purdue to use its final timeout.
The game of runs continued as Purdue scored three straight following the timeout to cut the Kentucky lead to two, 23-21, and force the Cats to call for time. The teams traded points out of the break and Kentucky led 26-23 when the Boilermakers made a 4-0 run to take a 27-26 lead which resulted in Kentucky burning its final timeout of the game. A Purdue service ace, a Kentucky hitting error and a final Boilermaker kill would give PU the 30-26 game three win.
Seniors Melissa Popp, Julie Gagnon and the SEC?s all-time digs leader Jenni Casper all competed in their final match for the Blue and White. Casper finishes her career ranked 13th all-time in Division I history with 2,037 career scoops. The Wildcats end their season with the most overall victories, most Southeastern Conference wins, best league finish and first NCAA Tournament victory since the 1992 season.
