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Knightly Cracks Butler Record Book as Bulldogs Fall to Purdue
Sept. 7, 2005
Senior libero Megan Knightly had 18 digs and climbed into the top ten on Butler's career digs list, but the Bulldogs as a team came up short against Purdue Wednesday night at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Boilermakers took the 30-14, 30-21, 30-21 decision to improve to 5-0 on the season. Butler fell to 3-3 on the young season. A season-high crowd of 624 showed up for the in-state rivalry. Knightly surrendered her libero jersey to rookie Nina Inic in the first game, as she's battled illness since the team's trip to Air Force last weekend. But, after convincing the Butler coaches she could tough out the match, she returned to the libero position in the second game and had a match-high 18 digs. Her third dig of the evening moved her into the tenth spot on Butler's career list. However, before the night was over, she was in ninth place with 1,314 career digs. "Purdue is just more seasoned than we are right now," said Butler head coach Sharon Clark. "Their setter (Renata Dargan) was phenomenal. Meg showed a lot of toughness out there tonight. She brings our team to another level when she's on the court. Right now, we've surrounded her with a lot of freshmen out there and we're still teaching. It's early in the season, but I thought the match was competitive. It just came down to experience tonight." Knightly posted her 36th straight 10+ dig performance and raised her 2005 average to 5.00 digs per game. Junior Krystal Hendrix led the Bulldogs with nine kills on .192 hitting.
Purdue, which finished just two spots out of the Top 25 in the latest CSTV/AVCA Coaches Poll, controlled much of the match. The Boilermakers hit .282 for the match and were led by freshman Danita Merlau's 16 kills. Dargan handed out 38 assists to become Purdue's career assists leader. Butler countered with an attack percentage of .077. Butler senior Candice Washington had a match-high five blocks. The Bulldogs take the weekend off before playing five matches next week, all on the road. The stretch begins Monday at Bradley followed by a Wednesday trip to Ball State and a weekend in New York at the Cornell Invitational. "This is our first weekend off during the season in a long time and it couldn't come at a better time," said Clark. "We just need to get our bodies rested and take advantage of the extra time we'll have in practice sessions." The Bulldogs return to Hinkle Fieldhouse Tuesday, Sept. 20, hosting IUPUI at 7 p.m. |
