Nov. 13, 2004
Final Stats
West Lafayette, Ind. - Illinois entered the match on Saturday hoping to tie its season-best winning streak of five. The match was close all the way but in the end, Purdue rallied from a two games to one deficit to defeat Illinois 25-30, 30-24, 30-32, 15-11 victory in front of 1746 fans, hundreds of them wearing Orange and Blue. The Illini fall to 18-7 overall, 10-6 in the Big Ten. The Boilermakers improve to 14-12 overall, 7-9 in the conference.
Jessica Belter came within one of tying her career in kills with 24 and hit .488. Belter was one of five Illinois players in double figures in kills. Rachel Van Meter had 19 kills followed by Jen Hynds (14), Meghan Macdonald (13) and Rasa Virsilaite, who also tallied her eighth double-double on the year with 12 digs. Kathleen Bazzetta and Lauren Harks had 15 and 14 digs, respectively, to pace the Illinois defense. The Illini led the Boilers in blocks, 13-10, led by Jen Hynds with eight block assists.
Purdue and Illinois had to dig deep to win several critical points throughout the night -- none more impressive than Illinois' improbable comeback in game three. Illinois showed some moxie on the road coming back from a 29-26 deficit to take that game 32-30. Belter had the kill on the first game point, then served the next points, including an ace to help the Illini tie the score. Jen Hynds got the other kill in the rally. After the Boilers tied the score Rasa Virsiliate's big swing made it 31-30 Illinois. Virsilaite then served the deciding point as Rachel Van Meter cut a big swing inside the block to give Illinois a 2-1 advantage.
The Illini hit .500 in game three and actually led in every statistical category - kills (85-79), attack percentage (.281-.252), digs (77-75), service aces (6-4) and blocks (13-10) for the night. Illinois did have 14 service errors, 11 more than against Indiana on Friday.
Illinois nearly pulled off a similar feat in the fourth game. Down 28-25, Rachel VanMeter scored the next two points on a kill and an ace. After a Purdue point, Jessica Belter belted the game to a 29-29, but Purdue pulled out the game to the match and sent to a fifth and deciding game. The Boilers jumped to a 6-2 lead and never trailed in winning the season series from Illinois for the first time since 1982.
The rest of the match was just as intense. Illinois overcame a 10-6 deficit to claim game one. Virsilaite served up two of the big Illinois runs in the game, which included two aces. With Purdue leading 13-11, Virsilaite served up five straight points, including two kills for Jen Hynds to make it 16-13 Illini. Purdue battled back to tie it 20, 22, 24, 25 before Virsilaite served up the final five points of the game, two on aces. VanMeter and Hynds also had a key block of a middle attack in the rally.
"This was a very good Big Ten match," said Illinois Head Coach Don Hardin. "Playing on the road in this conference is always a challenge. That's what we'll face in the post-season, so we might as well be prepared.
Illinois gets two more big tests next week, taking on two Top Ten teams in Ohio State and Penn State on the road on Friday and Saturday, respectively.
