Nov. 30, 2007

Recap |  Box Score

Ohio Head Coach Geoff Carlston

Opening Statement:

I have to give credit to Purdue, they made some great plays, played aggressive and they outplayed us the last three games. It's always tough when the season ends. You have a great season and you are with this group forever, every waking minute, and then bam - it's done. Especially here at Ohio because we are on the quarter system, so tomorrow everyone will take off and we won't see them for three weeks. It is disappointing. I thought the game could go either way. I think that Purdue just played better than us on this night.

On losing two of the last three games of the season:

You have to remember, we beat a pretty good Louisville team in there as well. Losing the last match is probably what you are going to remember and what people are going to talk about, but this team is a lot more than that. There's a lot more to this team than the last three matches of this season.

On where the match was won for Purdue:

I think there were a lot of little points that they won with their middles. Their middles absolutely killed us. We stopped the people that we wanted to stop. We knew they were going to set (Danita) Merlau, we knew that they were going to set (Samantha) Mader. I really think that (Carrie) Gurnell and (Kristen) Arthurs stepped up. We didn't have an answer for her. I was frustrated because our middles were supposed to stay with her - she wasn't supposed to get those shots, but they beat us to the middle. We stopped (Stephanie) Lynch, we stopped Merlau, we stopped Mader. We did not stop Gurnell and Arthurs. They stepped up, and that was our gameplan. We were going to try to take the first three out and make those two beat us, and they did. That, coupled with the fact that our passing broke down, bigtime. They didn't do anything that we were surprised with, but our offense got pretty stagnant and their middles stepped up and it just didn't happen for us.

On Purdue's defense against Melissa Griffin:

They did the same things against Melissa (Griffin) that we did against Danita (Merlau). They knew that she is our gun, she is our big hitter. She's our senior. They did a nice job on her. When our passing broke down, it just happened, it was nothing crazy that they did. They maybe started hitting a little harder for a while, but they just sort of found a crack and exploited it for a while and we just weren't able to catch up.

Ohio's Stephanie Blackburn

On where the momentum shifted from Ohio:

I think we played well. I don't know if it was in-sync or out-of-sync. I think that they just played well. They made better plays in key times during the game.

Was the home game more pressure on the team?:

I don't think that we put too much more pressure on ourselves. I think that we were ready, I think that we were excited about it. We came in and we wanted to win. I don't think that there was more pressure. I think that we were just excited for the community, excited to be at home and playing in front of our home crowd.

Ohio's Ellen Herman

On Ohio's difficulties hitting:

I thought we could have not had as many hitting errors, but I think that we did a great job of knowing who the key hitters were on our team, whether it was in-system or out of system. I think that it worked both ways a little. I think that we got on (Purdue) a little early and then they got on us. I think that Purdue was just able to pursue things in a better way than we were. They won the big points. It's something that is going to go along way. It's bigger to win the big points than it is to win the small points.

Is losing two of the final three games - will it define the season?:

We've definitely had some ups and downs. Starting off the season beating some of the top-ranked teams at the Minnesota tournament was an absolute high for all of us, but I don't think that was the height of our season. We've had some downs, losing to Alabama and losing in the MAC Tournament, but that doesn't set straight who we are as a team. We're all about chemistry, as teammates we are like sisters. Our coaching staff and captains really led our team this year. It was all about Ohio volleyball, but losing those two games toward the end of the season doesn't define our season.

Was there a point when you felt the momentum shift?

Volleyball is an up and down game for both sides: if you don't get a good pass, you don't get a good set, you don't get a good hit. It can go either way. I think that we got a little bit out of system because they started serving harder. I think that is one thing that we lacked, we needed to serve a little more tough. The libero did a great job of serving that float ball and it was great. It was right above the net. A float serve is one of the hardest serves to pass. They didn't change at all from what we had scouted, we fell back a little bit. That is something that you can't do when you are facing a Big Ten team. They play Penn State, they play Wisconsin, they play Minnesota - all these teams that are ranked nationally. They are used to that. They play teams that have big hitters and we have to learn how to play against that. I think that is one thing that we learned tonight.

Purdue Head Coach Dave Shondell

Opening Statement:

Ohio is a team that we have tremendous respect for. We knew that they would be ready to play on their own floor, in front of a tremendous following. I think that Geoff Carlston is one of the best coaches in the country. Ohio is very fortunate to have him. We knew that they would be as ready as they could be to play us. I think that they jumped on us in game one and I think that we settled down and played three outstanding games of volleyball down the stretch. I am just real pleased that our kids adjusted well to the tempo and the things that Ohio was doing. We're just elated to still be in the tournament. With the draw that we had, to play Ohio on its court, we are very excited about the win.

On Ohio's gameplan of stopping (Stephanie) Lynch, (Danita) Merlau and (Samantha) Mader:

I think when you play Purdue, you are thinking primarily about Lynch and Merlau and Mader. I think that Ohio was very well prepared to play against those players. I think that we had a very similar gameplan when we play against Ohio. We knew who we thought we needed to load up on. I just think that our other players stepped up tonight and were able to play a little more physical. You are talking about two kids (Kristen Arthurs and Carrie Gurnell) who were ranked in the top 15 in their respective classes. Those are two nice athletes to have and they are just now starting to come into their own. We knew that Arthurs was going to be a dandy and if you look at her stats over the last two weeks, you can really see the acceleration of her hitting percentage. The same thing just watching Carrie, you can see her start to show the confidence in hitting the outside set. I think that our setters did a great job of recognizing what was going on. There is a tendency to keep going to Lynch and Merlau and (the setters) stepped up and did a great job of finding the open hitters.

On Purdue's gameplan of neutralizing Ohio's Stephanie Blackburn:

We have a lot of respect for Blackburn. We feel like she is the heart and soul of their team. I think we felt like if we could serve her deep and to her right, or short, we would take a big part of their offense away. It would allow us to focus more on their bigger, but less experienced players. We don't serve a lot of aces, but we serve very effectively in taking away some of the things that they are looking to do. I thought tonight we served nearly as tough as we can. I thought the biggest difference in the game was the fact that we were able to slow down Griffin. She had a great year again and if we could find a way to slow her down, it would make a big difference. I thought that we did a nice job of that.

About paying Cal Poly tomorrow:

Sometimes it is tough to focus on what the next match will be, especially when you are getting ready to play Ohio on its home court. We know that Cal Poly is a really good team. That is why they are ranked in the top 15 or 16 in the country. They've got one phenomenal player in Atherstone, and we know enough about her, or have heard enough about her to know that is where we start. Jon Stevenson is a big-time coach. He has turned two programs around in two years and got them both into the top 20. Every time you hear of a job opening up on the west coast his name is one that seems to come up. We know that we are going to be competing against a very well-coached team. I think it is going to be a great match. I know that they are probably the favorite because they have been ranked the whole year. I think it is a pretty even match. It just depends on which team shows up to find a way to advance. Right now it is all about finding a way to advance in this tournament.

Purdue's Carrie Gurnell

On finding her rhythm in the offense:

I just thought that throughout the season, I've been getting more experience and running a faster set has helped me out a lot. I feel like I am more comfortable with that and it helped me out a lot tonight. I felt like I was left alone a lot. I felt that they kind of forgot about me and just when they forgot about me, our setters did a really good job of getting the ball to me.

Purdue's Stephanie Lynch

Was there a point during game two when you felt like the game came your way?:

I don't know if there was an exact point, but I definitely felt a difference between games one and two. We seemed to calm down a little bit. Ohio came out and played really well, as we expected. However, we had a lot of people who came out and played well to night, especially Carrie (Gurnell) and Kristen (Arthurs) who stepped up in the second game and that made the biggest difference.

On how serving help Purdue to win the game:

Serving is always a big emphasis because it makes it easier on the blockers if we are serving fast and taking them out of their offense a little bit. We had a good plan coming in against Ohio to take them out of their game. Our blockers did a great job of giving us a head's up about what is going to happen.