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| 09-20-2004 | Previous edition: 09-17-2004 |
        
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Printer-friendly version Volleyball team loses tournament to Wildcats despite valiant efforts
Senior Writer For Kim McConaha, it was a nightmare. The senior watched in disbelief as the Purdue volleyball team lost its tournament to Kentucky. The Wildcats defeated the Boilers in a five-game match 24-30, 30-21, 33-31, 25-30 and 17-15 before a sold-out crowd of 1,837 fans at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility on Saturday. "It was a great game, a great competitive match," said McConaha, who finished the match with a team high of 24 kills and was named to the all-tournament team. "UK really came out prepared. It just came down to who really had the final push, who wanted it more. "When it comes close like that, it’s who has more heart and who plays the hardest." The Boilers (7-3) and Wildcats (9-2) played an intense, back-and-forth match from the start. With game 1 featuring 16 ties in an evenly matched game, the Boilers pulled away with a late 9-2 run. The second game was all Kentucky. The Wildcats, who hit .438 in the game, dictated the style of play to the Boilers, who never led. "I think we just got soft," McConaha said. "I really feel like we weren’t the aggressor. We made too many hitting errors; our mental game was not present. (We) really shot ourselves in the foot and they jumped on us for it." Game 3 was also a back-and-forth affair. The game featured 10 ties and the Wildcats took the game with a pair of kills in overtime. In the fourth game, the Boilers regrouped. After Kentucky led early, the Boilers took the lead late courtesy of McConaha, who had three kills and a service ace. "Kim started slowly, but I thought finished very well for us," coach Dave Shondell said. "If we could have got her the ball a few more times, things might have been different." In game 5, the Boilers opened with a 6-2 run before a Kentucky time-out. Purdue then went up 9-6, but three crucial serving errors by the Boilers kept the Wildcats alive. "It’s our match and we make three service errors in a row, and that gave all the momentum to them," Shondell said. "(Then) we got in a couple tough rotations. We did the best we could with some young kids late in the fifth game, but Kentucky earned it. "We didn’t close the door in game 5. They played very well, then they opened the door for us and we just did not take advantage of it. We have to learn from that." Junior Leah Wischmeier, who was also named to the all-tournament team, believes both are quality teams. "I think we’re both good teams," Wischmeier said. "Tonight, they got the win." For McConaha, to see Kentucky walk out of the building with the championship trophy was difficult. "It’s still hard," said McConaha. "It’ll dwell with me for a while." The Boilers had earlier success in the tournament. The Boilers easily defeated East Tennessee State Saturday morning in three games, 30-12, 30-22 and 30-16. In the first match against Central Michigan on Friday, Purdue cruised to a 30-18, 30-15, 30-24 victory. Shondell said Purdue losing its own tournament was discouraging. "It’s very disappointing to lose this tournament because this was a match we should have won, and we didn’t," Shondell said. "It’s because we didn’t play well." The Boilers open Big Ten play Wednesday when they host Indiana. Printer-friendly version |
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