Ahrens Tough; Purdue Northwest Volleyball Falls to Tiffin in Four Sets

Ahrens Tough; Purdue Northwest Volleyball Falls to Tiffin in Four Sets
Tiffin, Ohio – Sophomore Brooke Ahrens (Covington, Ind./Covington) had 28 assists, 10 digs and four kills; but the Purdue University Northwest volleyball team fell to Tiffin University (Ohio) in Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC) action Friday evening at the Gillmor Student Center in Tiffin, Ohio.  The Pride dropped the match in four sets by scores of 15-25, 17-25, 25-22 and 13-25.

Senior Gabrielle Martin (DeMotte, Ind./Kankakee Valley) led the offensive attack for PNW finishing with 11 kills to go along with 16 digs.  Senior Abbe Mullen (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) led the defensive effort with 17 digs.  Senior Kayla Elsea (Palmyra, Ind./Crawford County) also had a nice effort for Purdue Northwest with nine kills and three total blocks (two solos).

The first set stayed close in the early moments, but the Dragons used a 10-2 surge to build a late 20-11 lead en route to the 25-15 win.  Tiffin carried that momentum into the second set taking an early 10-4 advantage.  PNW did not recover and dropped the second set, 25-17.  Early kills by Martin and Elsea in the third set helped the Pride take a 6-4 lead to open the third set.

Back-to-back kills by junior Morgan Spencer (Oswego, Ill./Aurora Central Catholic) extended the lead to 11-5.  Tiffin rallied back and took a 19-17 lead late, but the Pride regrouped and kills by Martin and Elsea down the stretch helped Purdue Northwest take the third set, 25-22.  Unfortunately, Tiffin opened the fourth set on fire and quickly built a 17-7 lead, which helped spur the 25-13 win to secure the match.

Purdue Northwest (5-11 overall/1-5 GLIAC) heads to Ashland, Ohio, and takes on Ashland University (Ohio) in a conference match-up on Saturday, September 30.  The road match is scheduled for a 2 p.m. ET start in Ashland, Ohio.