Volleyball team loses to Indiana, Illinois

By Greg Conner
Staff Writer

The Purdue volleyball team lost Big Ten matches to Indiana and Illinois over the weekend, extending its conference losing streak to nine matches.

Purdue coach Jeff Hulsmeyer said a lack of consistent play was the common theme for the Boilers (2-15, 1-9 Big Ten) in both losses, just as it has been all season.

"I think we have trouble at different times all the time," said Hulsmeyer, whose Boilers are tied for last place in the conference. "Right now, we are just a team of streaks. We have streaks of good and streaks of bad, and we just need to cut the waves down."

The waves were high Saturday night, as the Boilers lost to Indiana 33-31, 30-23 and 30-22. The Boilers had three game points in game one, but they couldn’t finish off the Hoosiers (5-13, 2-8). Indiana dominated the second and third games.

"I think we played poor tonight," said Hulsmeyer, whose team will play Indiana again on Nov. 16 for the Monon Spike. "There is no excuse. We have some young people on our team, but we have some seniors as well who aren’t stepping up. After four years here they can’t make excuses, they have to get out there and execute."

Senior Maegan Petersen, who finished with four kills and ten digs, said she didn’t know why they lost.

"I’m honestly at a loss of words," she said. "I don’t know if it was lack of hustle, lack of team jell, or just a lack of focus."

Sophomore outside hitter Laura St. John said the Boilers have a tendency to start matches slowly.

"I think we came out with a lot of heart and intensity, but something just wasn’t there. It's just really hard to recover after you give them a big lead."

On Friday night the Boilers fell to Illinois 30-23, 30-26 and 30-22. Despite several strong runs against the Illini (13-5, 6-4) that enabled the Boilers to take the lead, including a 10-2 run midway through game two, Purdue was once again swept in three games.

"We get in these modes where we have a run going and then we just drop it off," said freshman Lyndsey Phillips, who led the Boilers with 10 kills on 17 attempts. "If we could just play consistent, we can beat anyone."

One highlight came when freshman Leah Wischmeier returned to action after suffering an ankle injury Oct. 9 against IUPUI.

"It felt really good to play again," said Wischmeier. "Last weekend it was really hard to just sit there and not even get to dress. It was good just to get a jersey on again."

But Hulsmeyer said he didn’t expect Wischmeier to play.

"We were going to try and hold (Wischmeier) out unless we really needed her," he said. "Things were just not clicking, so we went ahead and brought her in and let her go after it."

The Boilers' next match is Tuesday at Valparaiso.

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Volleyball team loses to Indiana, Illinois

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