CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The No. 13 Boilermaker volleyball team battled No. 10 Illinois to the wire in three sets of a four-set loss on Saturday night. The Fighting Illini won the match 25-20, 26-24, 26-28, 26-24.
Juniors Sam Epenesa and Annie Drews led the offense with 13 kills, while freshman Danielle Cuttino put down a season-best 11 in a match dominated by the defenses. Cuttino and senior KiKi Jones put up seven stuffs apiece and Drews added six as Purdue blocked Illinois 14 times.
Defensively, senior Val Nichol and junior Amanda Neill pulled up 16 digs apiece, while redshirt freshman Ashley Evans added 15. Nichol dished out 37 assists in addition to her career-best 16 digs for her ninth double-double of the season.
Illinois put up 20 blocks and outhit the Boilermakers .116 to .056 in the match.
The Boilermakers scored the first two points of Set 1, but the Illini took a 6-2 edge and carried the advantage to a 25-20 win. Juniors Sam Epenesa and Annie Drews and freshman Danielle Cuttino had three kills apiece and the Boilers put up four blocks in the stanza. Purdue trailed by as many as seven (14-7), but pulled within three at 16-13. Illinois had its first set point chance at 24-19. A Cuttino kill thwarted that effort, but a block ended the stanza.
Illinois took an early 6-1 lead in Set 2 and rallied late to steal away a 26-24 win. Purdue erased the five-point deficit to tie it at 6-6 and then fought back from a 10-7 deficit to knot the score at 12 and 13 before taking a 14-13 lead on a UI hitting error. The Boilers held the lead until Illinois went up 18-16 and prompted a Purdue timeout. Purdue scored four straight out of the break, including a stuff by freshman Azariah Stahl and two kills by Cuttino, to go ahead 20-18. The teams tied at 21, but Purdue surged ahead 23-21 including a stuff by Jones and Stahl. The Illini tied it at 23, but a kill by Drews gave the Boilermakers a shot at the set at 24-23. A net violation tied the score and a kill and a Boiler error gave Illinois the 26-24 win. Cuttino had four kills in the set, while UI posted five blocks.
Purdue jumped out to an 8-3 lead in Set 3 and held on to take the set 28-26 on their fourth set point opportunity. Illinois came back from the early deficit to tie the set at 9. Purdue pushed ahead by three at 13-10 after kills by Evans, Drews and Epenesa, but the Illini took the lead at 14-13. Down 18-17, the Boilers scored four straight, including a stuff block by Stahl to go up 21-18. Two more Drews putaways put Purdue up 24-22, but Illinois countered with three points in a row to have a shot at the set at 25-24. A net violation and two stuffs by Drews and Cuttino set up two more Boiler chances at the stanza. An Illini hitting error capped the 28-26 win. Epenesa had six kills and Cuttino managed four stuffs in the stanza.
The Boilermakers battled from nine-points down to serve for Set 4 at 24-23, but saw the rally ended by a 3-0 Illinois run which clinched the match at 26-24. Purdue led 5-3 with help from an ace from Nichol and two Drews kills. The Illini scored six straight to go up 9-5 and built the lead to nine at 21-12. Epenesa put down three kills and Stahl and Cuttino each had one and combined on a block to pull Purdue within four at 22-18. Down 23-19, the Boilers put together a 5-0 run. A block by Jones and Nichol, two Illini miscues, a kill by Stahl and an ace by Neill put the Boilermakers on the hill for the set. Two Illinois kills and a block prevented Purdue from finishing the comeback. Four kills by Stahl and three stuffs by Jones highlighted the set.
The No. 13 Boilermakers (18-4, 8-2 Big Ten) return to action at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday when they face Wisconsin live on the Big Ten Network from Holloway Gymnasium.