Sept. 3, 2005
STOCKTON, Calif. The Pacific Tigers suffered their first home loss of the season as the Tigers fell 3-1 to Purdue on Saturday, Sept. 3. Game scores of the match were 30-24, 30-28, 24-30 and 30-22. The loss dropped Pacific to 4-2 on the season, while Purdue improved to 4-0.
The Boilermakers finished the Nike Invitational with a 3-0 record to claim the championship, while the Tigers finished second at 2-1.
The Tigers fell behind 3-0 in the opening moments of game one and were never quite able to get in sync as Pacific hit just .163 in the opening game, falling 30-24.
Game two was a seesaw battle throughout as the game featured 15 ties and 10 lead changes. Tied at 23-23, the Tigers found themselves on the wrong side of back-to-back points, giving Purdue a 25-23 lead. The Tigers drew within a point on four occasions, including at 29-28 on a kill from Pacific sophomore Kara Uhl (Cypress, Calif.), but Pacific was unable to pull even in the game or the match.
In Game 3, momentum became a factor. Purdue led from the opening serve, even escalating its lead to five at 12-7. The Tigers then scored seven of the next nine points to tie it up at 14-14 on a service ace by Uhl. Six ties followed, the last at 20-20. From that point, the Tigers went on an 8-2 run, led by three kills from senior Ashley Groothuis (Aurora, Neb.). The Tigers went on to take game three 30-24 as Pacific out hit Purdue .415 to .270.
Both teams turned up the defensive intensity in the fourth and final game, as Pacific held Purdue to a .179 hitting percentage, forcing seven errors. The Tigers, however, were unable to take advantage as Pacific hit just .019 in game four.
Groothuis finished with her second double-double of the day as she had a match-high 19 kills and 15 digs. Purdue's Elizabeth Jacques led the Boilermakers with 13 kills.
Following the match, Groothuis and Jaques were joined by Uhl, Bradley's Lindsay Stalzer, Saint Louis's Tatyana Menshikova and Purdue's Stephanie Lynch on the Nike Invitational All-Tournament Team. The MVP of the tournament was Purdue's Renata Dargan.
Pacific will be back in action on Friday, Sept. 9 as the Tigers begin play in the Nebraska Players Challenge at 4 p.m.(CT) with a match against No. 5 Penn State