Purdue Northwest Sweeps Governors State, 3-0
The Purdue University Northwest volleyball team picked up a three-set sweep over conference foe Governors State Tuesday night at the Fitness and Recreation Center.
The Pride (13-11, 6-5 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) defeated the Jaguars (7-18, 1-12) by scores of 25-16, 25-15, and 25-14 to stay one game over .500 in conference play.
Purdue Northwest was led by Gabrielle Martin (DeMotte, Ind./Kankakee Valley), who recorded 10 kills and three service aces while Jenna Pasko (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South) notched eight kills and 15 digs.
Cami Webster (DeMotte, Ind./Kankakee Valley) led the team with a .500 attack percentage with seven kills and Brooke Ahrens (Covington, Ind./Covington), notched a team-high 30 assists to lead the Black and Gold.
After the Jaguars went up 14-12 to start off the opening set, PNW fought back to even the score at 14-14 before going up 18-15 on a service ace from Casey Neulieb (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City)
PNW would keep their momentum for the rest of the set, to take a 25-16 Set 1 win.
The Pride would take the second set 25-15, before going up 9-4 in Set 3 thanks to a service ace from Abbe Mullen (Lansing, Ill./T.F. South).
Freshman Olivia Simpson (Bolingbrook, Ill./Bolingbrook) would cap off the night with a kill to end the final set and send the Pride away with the three-set win.
The sweep completed the season series sweep over the South Division Jaguars, as PNW beat GSU in four sets earlier in the year in University Park, Ill.
PNW returns to action Saturday when the Pride travel to Chicago for a tri-match at Moody Bible Institute. PNW will face host MBI beginning at 10 a.m. followed by a contest against Robert-Morris Springfield at noon.
Bailey Matches Career-Best in Final Round at Belmont Freshman Lauren Bailey matched her career-best round to lead the Purdue University Northwest women’s golf team on the final day of the Battle at Belmont, hosted by Davenport University.
Bailey (Wanatah, Ind./Lacrosse) knocked eight strokes off her Day 1 score with Tuesday’s 82, finishing the two-day round with a score of 172, which was a season-best and tied her for 23rd place in the field of 50.
Classmate Darian Smith (Muskegon, Mich./Mona Shores) wasn’t far off her Day 1 score, shooting two strokes better for a 95 to finish with a 36-hole mark of 192 (39th).
Meaghan Spalla (Crown Point, Ind./Crown Point) rounded out PNW’s Day 2 scores with a 99, cutting a stroke from Round 1, to finish with a 199.
Madonna won the team title with a two-day round of 622, Northwestern Ohio was second (643) and Wayne State took third with a 647.
Madonna’s Grace Hallinan held on to her Day 1 lead, finishing with a two-round score of 143 to beat the field by 10 strokes.
Tuesday’s tournament completed the Purdue Northwest fall season, as PNW will return to action during the championship season beginning in March 2017.
Purdue Northwest Falls to St. Ambrose, 4-1 The Purdue University Northwest women’s soccer team dropped a 4-1 decision to conference foe St. Ambrose University Tuesday afternoon at Dowling Park.
The Pride (4-10, 2-7 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) cut a 2-0 deficit to the Fighting Bees (10-3-2, 7-2) early in the second half when freshman Morgan Pickens (Highland, Ind./Highland) connected on the first goal of her collegiate career. Pickens, hustling after a ball rolling toward the SAU keeper, blocked the ensuing kick to try to clear and the ball ricocheted high and bounced in to make the score 2-1 in the 52’.
But SAU, who is receiving votes in the latest NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, showed its offense late in the game, as Maddie Aquilar connected on back-to-back goals in the 85’ and 87’ to put the game away for the visitors.
The Pride trailed at the break, 2-0, as the Bees’ Jess Mlachnik opened scoring in the 9’ on a serve in from a free kick and teammate Elizabeth Shealy added another score in the 17’ on a shot 25 yards out.
St. Ambrose outshot the Pride by a 25-6 margin – 13-4 on goal – and finished with six corner kicks to PNW’s two. Shayna Coy (Fort Wayne, Ind./Bishop Luers) and Shelby Ross (Nashville, Ind./Columbus North) finished with two shots apiece to lead PNW.
Starting keeper Lucie Ashmore (Greystones, Ireland/St. Gerard’s School) took the loss in goal, recording five saves, while second-half keeper Kelley Sharp (Seymour, Ind./Seymour) had four saves in 45 minutes of action.
Purdue Northwest returns to action Saturday when PNW travels to Holy Cross (Ind.) for a CCAC matchup in South Bend, Ind. Game time begins at 1:30 p.m. CT.
Purdue Northwest Tops PNW Alumni 97-71 in Saturday Exhibition On a day that featured the return of some of the program’s former standouts, the Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team rallied for 97-71 exhibition victory over the PNW Alumni Team Saturday at the Fitness and Recreation Center.
Senior Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) and freshman Skylar Ostrowski (DeKalb, Ind./DeKalb) led PNW with 16 points each, with the 5-foot-11 Ostrowski finishing 7-of-8 from the field in addition to her 10 rebounds.
Senior Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 15 points on 5-of-9 from 3-point land and freshman Shae Rhonehouse (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) and sophomore Michaela Kikendall (Morristown, Ind./Morristown) had 13 points each to round out PNW players in double-figure scoring.
Ten former players suited up in Purdue Calumet uniforms for the PNW Alumni squad, who opened the game with a 15-3 run behind two Stephanie Beck (Class of 2012) 3-pointers and a triple from Jennifer (Britton) Morang (Class of 2011). But a lift off the bench from Kikendall, who drained a trifecta and hit a layup, and Heather Burton (Valparaiso, Ind./Washington Twp.), who hit a 3 of her own, helped PNW cut the deficit to 21-14 at the end of the first.
PNW took the lead heading into the half, up 37-33, and then exploded for a 32-point third quarter to put the game away.
Beck (Class of 2012) led all scorers with 18 points thanks to a perfect 6-for-6 performance from behind the arc and Britton added 12 points to lead the Alumni. Meme Harris (Class of 2011) and Kami Graber (Class of 2015) added nine points each and Tierra Turner (Class of 2014) and Madison Gervais (Class of 2014) had eight points apiece.
Also participating for the alumni were Sara Keilman (Class of 2010), Brooklyn (Short) Guenin (2014), Nicole (May) Enright (Class of 2009), and LaKeisha (Hurst) Smith.
Purdue Northwest will play one more exhibition contest Oct. 28 at St. Joseph’s College (Ind.) before opening the 2016-17 season Nov. 4 on the opening night of the Tip-Off Classic when the Pride host Cornerstone at 4 p.m. at the James B. Dworkin Center on PNW’s Westville Campus.
