Sept. 17, 2005

Box Score

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - In the first match of the Saturday morning session of the Mortar Board Premiere at Purdue University, Xavier came out on the short end, falling to the host Boilermakers 3-0. Purdue, who is just 20 votes out of the Top 25, handled the Musketeers by scores of 30-25, 30-21 and 30-25.

Game one found Xavier starting a slow with XU not recording a point until a kill by Kate Duchek made the score 7-1 in favor of Purdue. The Musketeers would cut into the early PU advantage but could get no closer than four with the score 22-18 before the Boilermakers put the game away. Danielle Skrajewski led XU with eight kills on 10 swings for an .800 hitting percentage and five digs on the game.

Duchek led the Musketeers in the second game tallying eight kills on 18 attempts for a .389 hitting percentage. XU grabbed its only lead on the first point of the game and trailed only 13-12 before Purdue mounted a 6-2 run to pull ahead 19-14. Xavier would respond with a 6-4 run of its own to bring it back to 23-20 but a clutch 7-1 by the Boilermakers would end the game. A .588 hitting percentage and 22 kills by Purdue was also too much for Xavier to overcome in the stanza.

Game three found seven ties and seven lead changes. With the score knotted at 10-10, Xavier put a quick two-point burst together and carried the advantage until Purdue restored parity at 17-17. The Boilermakers would then grab a 21-17 advantage after a 4-0 run before a kill by Erica Kaczorowski finally ended the run. On the game, kills were even with each team recording 16 but eight hitting errors by XU were countered by only two from Purdue.

Duchek and Skrajewski each posted double digit kills on the match with 14 and 11, respectively. Skrajewski also recorded a .625 hitting percentage just missing her career-high by .014, which she set last season against Temple on Oct. 9. Carley Horvath had 10 digs to lead XU defensively and Jordan Brightwell added eight. Sophomore Lauren Kowal provided three kills and a .750 hitting percentage coming off the bench.

With the loss, Xavier is now 6-4 on the season and will match-up against Ohio at 6:00 pm ET tonight, while Purdue stands at 9-0 on the year and will take on No. 16 Tennessee in the nightcap at 8:30 pm ET.