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Aug. 28, 2007
Complete Release in PDF Format
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 17 Boilermaker volleyball team welcomes Dayton, North Carolina, and Utah to Belin Court for the Mortar Board Premier this weekend. Purdue opens its home slate with a Friday evening contest against the Flyers. Action in the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility begins at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. on Saturday. A full tournament schedule, links to live radio broadcasts and live statistics can be found on the Mortar Board Premier website here. The Mortar Board Premier The Mortar Board Premier has been played every year since 1995 with the exception of the 2001 season, when the tournament was cancelled following the 9/11 tragedy. Forty-one different teams have participated in the tournament over the years. The tournament is sponsored by Mortar Board, Inc., a national honor society that recognizes college seniors for distinguished ability and achievement in scholarship, leadership and service. Mortar Board will honor student athletes from all four teams for their scholarship and service accomplishments after each team's match on Friday evening of the tournament.
Series Information Dayton (The series is tied at 2-2): The Boilermakers and Flyers have split their previous four meetings in the series, which began on Oct. 15, 1977. Dayton won the first two meetings, in 1977 and 1979, but Purdue has taken the most recent meetings, during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. North Carolina (Purdue leads the series 2-1): The Boilermakers have won two of the previous three meetings with the Tar Heels, in the series which began on Sept. 10, 1993. Purdue took the first contest, then UNC evened the series in 1997. A four-game win for Purdue at the GlaxoSmithKline Classic in 2005 gave the Boilermakers the edge. All three previous meetings have taken place in Chapel Hill, N.C. Utah (Utah leads the series 1-0): The Utes won the lone previous meeting with the Boilermakers, taking a 3-0 decision at the Utah Classic on Sept. 13, 1997. A Look at the Boilermakers Four players average more than two kills per game, led by junior middle hitter Stephanie Lynch. Lynch put up 4.00 kills per game on a team-best .330 hitting percentage, while also racking up 1.27 blocks per game. Junior outside hitter Danita Merlau (3.36), senior outside hitter Sammi Mader (3.09) and freshman outside hitter Kristen Arthurs (2.11) round out the group. Sophomore outside hitter/middle hitter Carrie Gurnell (1.86) and junior outside hitter/defensive specialist Kelli Miller (1.73) also contribute to the offense. Senior libero Anne Mastandrea provides the bulk of the defense for the Boilermakers with 7.55 digs per game. Miller and Merlau each add 3.82 digs per game, while sophomore setter Sam Gray pulls up 2.55 digs per game to go with her 8.82 assists per game tally and team-leading eight aces. Five different players accounted for the team's 19 aces, including Gray's eight and Miller's tally of five. Purdue led opponents in all major statistical categories. Facts About the Flyers Senior outside hitter Jamie-Lee Richards leads a group of four players averaging more than two kills per game. Richards has put down 3.33 kills per game, while also serving up 11 aces. Redshirt freshman middle hitter Lindsay Fletemier (2.92), freshman outside hitter Yvonne Marten (2.25) and junior outside hitter Kortney Norris (2.17) follow. Fletemier boasts a team-best .338 hitting percentage and also leads the team at the net with 1.25 blocks per game. Redshirt junior setter Erin Schroeder has put up 0.83 blocks per game, while also dishing out 10.83 assists per game, serving up seven aces and pulling up 2.25 digs per game. Senior libero Adrienne Green paces the Flyer defense with 4.75 digs per game. Schroeder follows with 2.25 and Norris adds 1.67 digs per game. Dayton is hitting .223 as a team, has put up 2.67 blocks per game and served up 30 aces. The Flyers are coached by Tim Horsmon, who is in his fifth year with the team. Talking About the Tar Heels Freshman outside hitter Courtney Johnston and junior outside hitter Lauren Prussing lead the Tar Heel offense, averaging 3.78 and 3.10 kills per game. Three other hitters: freshman outside hitter Sue Haydel (2.70), senior middle hitter Christie Clark (2.22) and sophomore middle hitter Christine Vaughen (2.00) also contribute more than two kills per game to the UNC offense. Junior libero Brianna Eskola leads the Tar Heels in the back court, averaging 4.70 digs per game. Haydel and junior setter Stephanie Jansma follow with 3.20 and 2.90 digs per game respectively. Sophomore middle hitter Heather Brooks leads UNC at the net with 1.67 blocks per game. Johnston and Vaughen also aid the blocking effort with averages of 1.56 and 1.33 stuffs per stanza. As a team, North Carolina puts up 3.20 blocks per game, while holding opponents to a 1.55. The Tar Heels are coached by Joe Sagula, who is in his 18th year with the team. Understanding the Utes Junior outside hitter Kathryn Haynie and senior outside hitter/middle hitter Whitney Webb are averaging more than 3.50 kills per game to pace the Utah offense. Haynie racked up 3.88 kills per game last weekend, while Webb accounted for 3.62 putdowns per stanza. Senior outside hitter Kate Robison (2.75) and junior middle hitter Lori Baird (2.25) also averaged more than two kills per game. Haynie posted a team-leading .268 hitting percentage on the weekend. Senior libero Connie Dangerfield pulled up 5.38 digs per game to lead the Utes on defense, while also serving up a team-best four aces. Robison (3.88), freshman setter Keisha Fisher (3.38) and Webb (2.38) also aided the team in the back court. At the net, Baird put up 1.62 blocks per game. As a team, Utah hit just .128, but opponents didn't fair much better with just a .137 hitting effort. Utah is coached by Beth Launiere, who is in her 18th year with the team. Comparing the Opposition Category Purdue Dayton North Carolina Utah Hitting % .216 .223 .204 .128 Kills 15.82 13.67 14.60 13.88 Assists 14.82 12.33 13.40 12.75 Aces 1.73 2.50 1.60 1.50 Blocks 2.27 14.08 16.30 17.25 Digs 22.45 2.67 3.20 2.12 What a Difference a Win Makes... If the Boilermakers top Dayton on Friday ... • They will move to 26-7 all time in home openers and 5-0 in the last five home openers. • They will improve the team's record to 3-1 on the season. • They will move to 20-6 when playing in the month of August. • They will take a 3-2 lead over Dayton in the all-time series. Rank And File Including the two polls thus far in 2007, the Boilermakers have been ranked in 31 straight AVCA Top 25 listings, beginning on Sept. 19, 2005. The team peaked at No. 9 during the weeks of Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 last year, marking the program's highest ranking since Nov. 14, 1983 and putting Purdue among the nation's Top 10 for the first time since the final poll of 1985 when the Boilermakers were ranked 10th. Since rankings began in 1982, Purdue has been ranked in 79 polls. Against the Top 25 Ain't It Grand Mader had been a steady force throughout her Boilermaker career, but it took a few years for her to receive the honors that go with that. In 2006, Mader put down 3.04 kills per game on a .264 hitting percentage, while also accounting for 92 digs, 50 blocks and six aces en route to Honorable Mention All-Big Ten accolades. Approaching Major Milestones Junior Kelli Miller has racked up 931 digs thus far as a Boilermaker, leaving her just 69 from the mark. Only 10 players have reached the 1,000-career dig mark while wearing the Old Gold & Black. Junior outside hitter Danita Merlau is not far behind, however, with 920 kills. She needs just 80 to reach 1,000. Only 18 other players in Purdue history, including teammate Sammi Mader, have reached the milestone. Digging Up A Record Conference Honors Tournament Honors Preseason Predictions Lynch became the first player in the storied history of the Purdue volleyball program to be name Sports Imports/AVCA National Player of the Week, when she garnered the accolade on Nov. 20, 2006, for her performances against Northwestern and Illinois. The announcement followed news that she also was named Big Ten Player of the Week on Nov. 20. Lynch averaged 4.4 kills per game on .636 hitting, while also contributing 2.3 blocks per game and four aces in a pair of road wins for the Boilermakers that week. She began the weekend by posting a team-best 15 kills on .520 hitting and had a career-high 12 blocks and three aces at Northwestern. The 12-block tally (3 solo, 9 assists) marked the second-best four-game match mark in school history and first 12-block performance since 1992. Against Illinois, Lynch continued her offensive output, leading the team with a season-best 16 kills at a .789 clip, while also adding an ace and four blocks. The .789 hitting effort marked the second-best three-game match efficiency in school history. Fabulous Freshmen All In The Family Defense Rules Miller also was honored on Sept. 4, for her performance at the Mizuno Challenge in Auburn, Ala. The Mizuno Challenge MVP racked up 17 digs as the team's libero against Virginia Tech, before posting double-doubles against Arizona State and Auburn while playing all six rotations. Miller led the Boilermakers with 18 kills on a .412 hitting percentage, while pulling up 28 digs against the Sun Devils. She then wrapped up the weekend with 13 kills on a .423 hitting percentage and 13 digs against the host Tigers. As the team's primary passer, Miller also made good on 98 percent of her serve reception attempts on the weekend. Miller posted double-digit dig totals in 24 of the team's 34 matches, and 20 or more digs in seven contests, including a career-best 32 digs against Iowa on Oct. 7. The performance marked Miller's fifth night with 20 or more digs in a match during the season. The effort followed a 31-dig night on Sept. 29, which marked the first time a Boilermaker player had surpassed the 30-dig milestone in a match since Nov. 13, 2004. Miller wrapped up the season with a team-best 4.04 digs per game, which ranked fourth on Purdue's all-time single season list and seventh in the Big Ten for the year. She also accounted for 95 kills and 31 aces. The Muncie, Ind., native accounted for three double-doubles in 2006: against Arizona State (18K, 28D), Auburn (13K, 13D) and No. 9 USC (13K, 14D). Dynamic Danita In 2006, Merlau led all Purdue hitters with 3.78 kills per game, while also accounting for 38 service aces and 1.66 digs per game. Block Party Lynch also put up double-digit blocks with 10 against No. 19 Michigan Sept. 23, marking the first time a Boilermaker player had posted double-digit blocks since all-time block assists leader Kim McConaha did so on Nov. 27, 2004 against Northwestern. Lynch led the Boilermakers with 138 blocks on the season, 1.21 per game. Home Sweet Home
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