GBI Express

and leaders step up if we are going to be successful." BY BRANDAN ALFORD GnBmanager@aol.com VOLLEYBALL SWEEPS WEEKEND for the first time since 1984. The Boilermakers justified that loſty mark with three impressive perfor- mances in last weekend's Mortar Board Premier. Purdue opened the tournament Purdue's volleyball team opened the year ranked in the top 10 of our younger players a chance to play, Annie Drews and Kaisley Fisher were all able to get out there. They were very impressive. We saw some good things." Purdue closed the weekend " Shondell said. "Sam Epenesa, played plenty of extra time in the past two matches, winning a 2-1 overtime match over Eastern Illi- nois before dropping a 4-3 decision in double overtime in its first road match of the season at Louisville. OVERTIME THRILLERS The women's soccer team has SOCCER SPLITS make, especially along the back line, we still have experience to gain in central midfield, but our attack has done a pretty good job so far. "The Louisville match was sym- "We have improvements to " coach Rob Klatte said, "and bolic of this season: If we do a bet- ter job of not allowing goals and we shore up defensively against set pieces, we will be successful. Offense hasn't been an issue " at Belin Court with a three-game sweep over No. 21 Northern Iowa on Friday before disposing of George Washington and Pittsburgh in three games as well. "I thought we were out-played in the first two games of the North- ern Iowa match," Coach Dave Shon- dell said. "But we found a way to win and played much better in that third set. We were able to play well enough to beat a good team." In the victory over George with a victory over Pittsburgh where Turner was in great form, to- taling 14 kills on a career-high .538 hitting percentage while adding five digs as well. A pair of Boilers who have struggled with injuries throughout their Purdue careers looked strong in the Rebarchak totaled 23 kills over the three matches while Anna Drewry had 13 of her own. "Rebarchak is in great physi- cal shape right now," Shondell said. Washington, the Boilers dominat- ed from start to finish, cruising in all three sets, 25-12, 25-12, 25-16. Purdue was able to rest senior all- American Ariel Turner and give some new faces some court time. "We had a chance to give some three matches. Catherine Coach Dave Shondell called Catherine Rebarchak one of Purdue's "two or three best" players right now. Purdue "She is one of our two or three best players. We just want her to become more versatile on that right side. "Anna Drewry played very well this weekend in the Tiger Invitation- al, which was originally scheduled to be played on LSU's campus. How- ever, tropical storm Isaac has forced the event to be moved to Houston on Rice's campus. The Boilers will open with a matchup against No. 12 Washington before facing LSU and Rice. "We are going to find out how offensively this weekend. Blocking was something she was good at be- fore she was hurt, and we need her to get back to that if we are going to play a big, physical style of play. No. 7 Purdue returns to action " good we are when we play Wash- ington," Shondell said. "They are a good, tough team and I think we have identical talent levels. We have a little more experience, but we have to have our best players GOLDANDBLACK EXPRESS • volume 23, express 1 • 32

• Cover