IntercoThe ninth-ranked Minnesota volleyball team (15-3, 5-2) had its five- match winning streak snapped by Purdue (15-3, 4-3) as it lost in four games by scores of 16-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-27 at the Intercollegiate Athletic Facility on Friday, Oct. 14.

Sophomore Jessy Jones (Naperville, Ill.) had a career-high 15 kills, four blocks and hit .591 (15-2-22) for the match. Sarah Florian (Holland, Ohio) had 15 kills, six digs and a career-high six blocks. Junior Kelly Bowman (Maple Grove, Minn.) had her second triple-double of the season with 11 kills, 29 assists and 10 digs. It was also Bowman’s 11th career triple-double.

Senior Paula Gentil (Forteleaza Ceara’, Brazil) had a match-high 24 digs, while junior Malama Peniata (Plymouth, Minn.) had 12 digs for the Golden Gophers. Junior Meredith Nelson (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) also had nine kills and five blocks.

Minnesota jumped out to an early 6-2 lead in game one, but Purdue scored four of the next six points to cut it to 8-6. The Golden Gophers rattled off four of the next five points to take a 12-7 lead over Purdue. The Boilermakers cut the lead to 13-9, but Minnesota got back-to-back kills from Florian to force a Purdue timeout at 15-9. Out of the timeout, the Golden Gophers scored the next three points to force another Boilermaker timeout at 18-9. Minnesota got a kill from Florian to complete a 6-0 run to make it 19-9.

Purdue cut the lead to 20-13, but Minnesota answered with three straight points to go up 23-13. The Boilermakers scored two of the next three points to make it 24-15, but Minnesota rattled off six of the final seven points to win game one 30-16.

Minnesota outhit Purdue .457 to .133 in game one, and had 18 kills to 12 for the Boilermakers. Florian paced the Golden Gophers with eight kills in the game. Bowman also had four kills and five digs for Minnesota.

In game two the teams were tied at 4-4, before the Boilermakers extended the lead out to 8-4 with four straight points. Purdue scored seven of the next points to close out an 11-2 run to go up 15-6. Minnesota scored four of the next six points to cut it to 17-12. Purdue came back with three of the next four points to go up 20-13. Purdue moved the lead up to nine points at 26-17.

The Golden Gophers came back with five straight points to cut the Purdue lead to 26-22. Jones started the run with a solo block, and Florian made it 26-19 with a solo block of her own. Florian followed with a kill and Bowman had a solo block to make it 26-21. Minnesota cut it to four points, before Purdue ended the run to make it 27-22. The two teams exchanged the next four points to give the Boilermakers game point at 29-24. Purdue closed it out with the next point to take game two to even up the match one game apiece.

Purdue outhit Minnesota .182 to .146 in game two, despite the fact that the Golden Gophers had 17 kills to the Boilermakers’ 12. Bowman, Jones and Florian each had four kills in the game for the Golden Gophers.

In game three the two teams were tied at 5-5, before Purdue went on a 7-1 run to go up 12-6. Minnesota scored two straight points to cut it to 12-8, but the Boilermakers scored seven of the next nine points to go up 19-10. Purdue continued to build on the lead with six of the next nine points to close out an extended 20-8 run to go up 25-13.

The Golden Gophers answered with four straight points to cut it to 25- 17, but the Boilermakers came back with consecutive points to push the lead back to 10 points at 27-17. Purdue moved it to game point at 29-20, but Minnesota fought off four straight game points to cut it to 29-24. Purdue closed out game three to win 30-24, and go up two games to one over the Golden Gophers.

Purdue outhit Minnesota .214 to .176 in game four, and had 19 kills to the Golden Gophers’ 11. Nelson and freshman Kyla Roehrig each had three kills for Minnesota in the game.

For the third straight game, Purdue grabbed the early momentum from Minnesota as it jumped ahead 8-5 after the scored was tied at four. Minnesota scored six of the next eight points to take its first lead since game two at 11-10. Purdue grabbed the lead right back at 13-12 with three of the next four points. The Boilermakers pushed the lead out to 16-14, before Minnesota scored two straight points to tie the game at 16. Purdue answered with five of the next seven points to take at 21-18 lead.

Minnesota answered with three straight points to tie the game at 21. The two teams exchanged the next four points to reach the 13th tie of the game at 23. The Boilermakers grabbed the momentum with consecutive points to go up 25-23. Purdue extended the lead out to 27- 24, before the Golden Gophers cut it to 28-26. The Boilermakers pushed it to game point at 29-26. Nelson delivered a kill to make it 29-27, but Purdue closed out the match with next point to claim game four 30-27.

The two teams each hit .193 for the night, while Golden Gophers held the slight edge in kills at 62 to 60. Minnesota also had a slight edge in blocks at 15.0-to-13.0, but Purdue outdug the Golden Gophers 68 to 64. The Boilermakers also had six service aces to Minnesota’s four.

Stephanie Lynch led the way for Purdue with 16 kills, six blocks and she hit .519 (16-2-27). Danita Merlau had 14 kills, while Samantha Mader had 12 for the match. Setter Renata Dargan had nine kills, 49 assists, eight digs and seven blocks on the night. Libero Anne Mastandrea had a team-high 21 digs, while Kelli Miller had eight kills and 13 digs.

Minnesota will head to Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 15 at 7 p.m. Minnesota’s match with Illinois will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis on ESPN 2 on Sunday, Oct. 16 at 1:30. Both matches will be webcast on gophersports.com.