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CINCINNATI - The University of Cincinnati volleyball team fell short to No. 11 Purdue 3-1 (25-18, 24-26, 25-21, 25-10) in the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge finale Saturday at Fifth Third Arena.
UC senior Jordanne Scott (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) tallied a team-high 17 kills while junior Emily MacIntyre (Muncie, Ind/Yorktown) led the Bearcats with 15 digs. Senior Becca Refenes (Westland, Mich./Lutheran Westland) and sophomore Me'Ashah Nicholson (Shiloh, Ill./Belleville Althoff) posted five block assists each.
"Jordanne and Emily played a very nice match for us today," UC head coach Molly Alvey said. "Emily has a great demeanor and poise on the court and played phenomenally this weekend. She works to make everyone else around her better."
Purdue (6-2) broke open a closely contested first set to grab an 18-13 lead after a 5-0 run. The first half of the opening set featured seven ties and four lead changes before the Boilermakers' spurt. The Bearcats couldn't pull closer than four points the rest of the way. Purdue's Annie Drewry totaled six kills to help the Boilermakers claim the first set 25-18.
UC (1-8) evened the match at one set apiece with a 26-24 victory in the second set. The Bearcats built a 6-1 lead early only to see the Boilermakers rally to even the score at 10-10. The two teams battled through eight ties and four lead changes before the Bearcats pulled out the win late with a kill from Nicholson and a Purdue attack error on set point.
The Bearcats were even with the Boilermakers most of the third set before Ariel Turner recorded back-to-back kills for a 23-19 Purdue lead. Turner, who registered a .357 attack percentage in the third frame, finished off UC with her fifth kill of the set four points later to give the Boilermakers the 25-21 win.
Purdue secured the match behind a .542 attack percentage during the deciding fourth set. Turner led the Boilermaker surge again with six kills and a .556 hitting percentage in posting a 25-10 win.
"We played some great opponents in this event and we played them with great toughness," said Alvey whose team fell to No. 20 Illinois 3-1 on Friday. "We just have not been able to put together an entire match yet."
Earlier Saturday, No. 24 Louisville outlasted No. 20 Illinois 25-18, 23-25, 25-17, 22-25, 15-9.
UC's Scott and Macintyre were joined on the all-tournament team by Purdue's Drewry and Carly Cramer. Other selections were Illinois' Anna Dorn and Jocelynn Birks and Louisville's Lola Arslanbekova and Caitlin Welch. Arslanbekova was named most valuable player.
The Bearcats will play Central Florida in the Texas Invitational Sept. 14 at 3:30 p.m.