WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - The No. 15 Boilermakers moved to 12-2 on the season and 2-0 in the Big Ten, outlasting the Michigan State volleyball team 3-1. Purdue won the match 25-22, 25-22, 26-28, 25-23.
Four Boilermakers posted double-digit kill totals, led by junior Annie Drews' 20. Senior KiKi Jones and redshirt freshman Ashley Evans put down 12 apiece, while freshman Danielle Cuttino chipped in 10, hitting at a team-best .444 clip and adding a team-high four blocks. Freshman Azariah Stahl added seven kills. Evans rounded out a double-double with 12 digs, while senior Val Nichol posted five kills to go with a 48-assist, 15-dig double-double and four blocks.
Defensively, Nichol and junior Amanda Neill led the way with 15 digs apiece. Redshirt sophomore Kate Workman added 13 and Evans followed.
The Boilermakers were outblocked 13-9, but won the rest of the statistical categories, outhitting MSU .193 to .160 and racking up 77 digs to the Spartans' 60.
Purdue edged the Spartans 25-22 in Set 1 with help from five Drews' putaways and an ace by Workman. The Boilermakers went up 10-6, thanks in part to eight MSU miscues. The Spartans tied the score at 12 and 13 before going ahead 16-14 on a Purdue error. A kill by Jones kicked off an 8-1 Purdue rally, which turned the deficit into a 22-17 lead. Evans had two kills and two blocks in the stretch. Michigan State cut the margin to two at 23-21, but a pair of Drews kills wrapped up the win.
The Spartans led 6-4 early in Set 2, but the Boilermakers rallied to earn a 25-22 win as five different players tallied three of more kills in the stanza. Purdue scored four straight, including an ace by Workman, to turn the MSU lead into an 8-6 edge of its own. Michigan State tied it up at 10, but Purdue managed six of the next eight points to pull ahead 16-12 and force MSU to use both timeouts. MSU was within one at 19-18, but a trio of Evans kills made it 22-19 Boilers. Putdowns by Cuttino and Stahl gave Purdue a set point chance at 24-20. A kill by Stahl finally ended it three serves later.
Set 3 was a back and forth battle from the start, featuring 17 ties, 12 lead changes and four combined set point attempts in a 28-26 MSU win. Neither team gained more than a two-point lead in the stanza. The teams split the first 16 points, then Michigan State surged ahead 12-10. Purdue scored five of the next six to go up 15-13 and force a Spartan timeout. MSU countered with a 5-1 run to take an 18-16 edge. Two kills by Jones and one each from Drews, Nichol and Evans made it 22-19 Boilers. The Spartans tied it at 22. A solo block and a kill by Cuttino gave Purdue a shot at match point at 24-23, but MSU thwarted that attempt and had a set-point chance of its own at 25-24. A kill by Drews and Michigan State hitting error gave Purdue another match-point look at 26-25, but the Spartans extended the match with three straight points. MSU hit .325 to Purdue's .245 effort, while Drews turned in five kills and Cuttino had four.
The Spartans carried the momentum into Set 4, racing ahead 8-4. The Boilermakers tied it up at eight with help from a block by Jones and Nichol. After ties at nine and 10, Purdue built a 13-11 lead, but the Spartans knotted things up at 14. Back to back kills by Jones and three by Drews put the Boilers on top 20-17 and forced an MSU timeout. The Spartans scored six of the next eight out of the break to go ahead 23-22. Three straight Michigan State hitting errors, however, sealed the match for Purdue at 25-23. Drews put down seven kills in the final stanza.
No. 15 Purdue (12-2, 2-0 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday vs. Rutgers in New Brunswick, N.J.