Purdue may have come out on top against IU in Saturday’s match at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Indiana, but the Hoosiers beat themselves.
IU failed to reach 20 points at any time during the three-set sweep by scores of 25-15, 25-17 and 25-18.
IU faced an uphill battle against No. 10 Purdue from the start, yet their unforced errors were the defining characteristics in the loss.
Purdue accrued just six attack errors in the match, while IU had 19.
“Purdue played well tonight, but I don’t think we really found out how good they were because I didn’t think we pushed them enough,” IU Coach Sherry Dunbar-Kruzan said. “Our serving is usually a positive for us, but we had 14 service errors and never seemed to get comfortable with our serving game.”
Dunbar-Kruzan was correct when she said earlier in the week her team could not afford to fall behind early in sets, as they have throughout the season to this point. The Hoosiers were unable to stray from this negative pattern and quickly fell behind 8-3 in set one. The Boilermakers never looked back from there.
After the first two sets, IU committed 16 attack errors and hit just .143 as compared to Purdue’s .412 hitting ercentage.
IU seemed to turn it around in set three, but Purdue outmatched them with an even stronger performance. IU hit .480 with 15 kills and only three errors, but its instate rivals countered with 16 kills and just one error to go along with a .652 hitting percentage.
“In the third set, some of our younger players stepped up for us,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “I thought Elizabeth Asdell came in and gave us some good swings. I thought freshmen Kendall Beerman and Hayden Huybers had some good moments for us.”
Sophomore right side hitter Elizabeth Asdell contributed five kills for IU in that third set and senior Allison Hammond added three kills on four swings.
Huybers, an outside hitter who has begun to make a name for herself in IU’s first two Big Ten matches, hit .364 with five kills and one error in the match.
Yet again, Hammond and fellow senior Megan Tallman led the Hoosiers offensively. Hammond, an outside hitter, converted a team-leading nine kills, while co-captain and setter Tallman tallied 34 assists.
“Our seniors care so much about winning and getting this program to a winning point,” Dunbar-Kruzan said. “We are going to figure things out from this match and find ways to improve as the season goes along.”
Having to overcome their own errors in addition to a masterful performance by one of the nation’s top 10 teams proved to be too tall of a task for IU.
Purdue recorded an astounding .517 hitting percentage for the match and did not allow IU to be comfortable or to gain an edge at any instance during the night.
The Hoosiers’ next few opponents aren’t any less intimidating, as they will be hosts to No. 2 Minnesota on Friday and No. 3 Wisconsin on Saturday in Bloomington at University Gym.
