No. 14 Purdue Too Strong For Falcons

Saturday, September 15

West Lafayette, Ind.

7:00 p.m.

Bowling Green State University

Purdue

September 15, 2012 | Volleyball

By: by Jason Knavel, Assistant Athletic Director for Athletic Communications

Boxscore

West Lafayette, Ind. – The Bowling Green and No. 14 Purdue volleyball teams entered Saturday evening's contest with unblemished records at the Purdue Active Ankle Challenge. The Boilermakers proved to be just a bit too strong for the Falcons and earned the tournament championship with a 25-17, 25-12, 25-22 win.

“We lost to a very good team that exploited all of our weaknesses in this match,” BGSU Head Coach Danijela Tomic said. “We can not beat teams like Purdue and become a championship team if all of our players don't show up to compete because we become a very predictable and one-dimensional team.”

Purdue hit .296 and was the first team to outdig the Falcons in six matches, holding a 43-34 edge in that category. Paige Penrod led the Falcons with 14 kills and was named to the all-tournament team for the second consecutive week. She had 54 kills on the weekend. Laura Avila was also named to the all-tournament team after posting 21 assists, following 64 and 50 assist matches Friday.

BGSU actually jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first set but Purdue quickly overtook the Falcons. The Boilermakers used a 9-1 run midway through the frame to pull away.

The second set was close early as the Falcons were down only one at 7-6. But Purdue began to pull away and rolled late for the 25-12 win.

The third set was the most competitive and Bowling Green had a chance late to push it to a fourth set. Trailing 19-16, the Falcons score five straight to go ahead by two. However, the Boilermakers answered with five in a row of their own to take control back and earn the match victory.

Penrod's 14 kills came on a .235 attack rate and Ashley Dunn added 12 digs for the Falcons. Kari Galen had a team-high three blocks.

“Our preseason is officially over with this match and our sole focus is now on the MAC,” Tomic said. “We need to use all of the lessons that we have learned in the last four weeks in order to have a successful rest of the season.”

Purdue improves to 9-2 with the win and BGSU falls to 4-7. The Falcons will open MAC play this weekend and have their home opener Friday night against Ohio for Alumni Night at 7 p.m. BGSU will then host Kent State Saturday at 7 p.m.