The Boilers outhit the Phoenix .390 to .118 and outblocked them 10-4. Junior Annie Drews led all hitters with 14 kills on a .571 hitting percentage. Junior Sam Epenesa chipped in eight kills, while redshirt freshman Ashley Evans added five. Five other players contributed offensively.
A balanced defensive effort saw freshman Lydia Dimke and junior Amanda Neill post team-best six dig totals, while senior Val Nichol and redshirt sophomore Kate Workman added five apiece. At the net, senior KiKi Jones added five stuffs to her four kill tally, while Drews and freshman Azariah Stahl put up three blocks apiece. Nichol also served up two of Purdue's four aces.
Purdue hit .355 to Elon's .062 effort in a 25-20 Set 1 win, but the Boilermakers had to rally for the victory. The Phoenix scored the first four points of the match and the Boilers played from behind until gaining their first lead at the 8-7 mark after a block by Jones and a kill by Evans. Elon led by one again briefly at 13-12, 14-13 and 15-14, but Purdue turned the tables with a 4-0 run including a stuff by Jones and Nichol and kills by Jones and Drews. Up two at 19-17, the Boilermakers closed out the set with a 6-3 run, capped by a putdown by freshman Danielle Cuttino. Evans and Drews each had four kills in the stanza.
The Boilermakers led early in Set 2, but had to overcome a midset rally by Elon to come away with the 25-19 win. Purdue hit .381 and put up six blocks in the stanza, which featured five putaways by Drews. Trailing 3-1 in the set, Elon scored eight of the next 10 points to push ahead 9-5. The Boilers countered with an 8-3 run, including two blocks and an ace by Neill to make it 13-12. Purdue maintained the advantage the rest of the way, save a tie at 15-15. Back-to-back-to-back blocks made it 19-15 Boilers, but the Phoenix cut the edge to two at 20-18. A service error sparked a 5-1 Purdue run, which wrapped up the set. Three kills and a block by Drews sealed the win.
Elon put a strong fight in Set 3, holding the Boilermakers at bay until the midway point, leading by as many as four at 7-3 and not allowing Purdue the lead, save 1-0, until the 13-12 mark. Six different players posted kills in the rally, which saw the Boilers go up by four at 16-12. An ace by Evans and a stuff by Drews and Adelaja capped the run. Elon would get no closer than two the rest of the way. Jones, Epenesa and Nichol turned in kills in the final stages of the sweep, which ended at 25-18 on a pair of Nichol aces. Purdue hit at a match best .433 clip in the final set as Drews put down five kills and the Boilers served up three aces.
The No. 7 Boilers wrap up the weekend at the KSU Owl Invitational with a 7:30 p.m. contest against host Kennesaw State. The match will be streamed live on ESPN3.com.