WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A balanced offensive attack featuring five players with seven or more kills helped the No. 13 Purdue volleyball team to a 3-0 sweep of Minnesota Saturday night. The Boilermakers won the match 25-20, 25-22, 25-20 to move to 19-5 on the season and 9-3 in Big Ten play.
Junior Annie Drews led the quartet with nine kills, while senior Val Nichol, junior Sam Epenesa and freshman Danielle Cuttino chipped in eight putdowns apiece and redshirt sophomore Faye Adelaja added seven. Redshirt freshman Ashley Evans rounded out the offense with four putaways as Purdue outhit Minnesota .223 to .114.
Defensively, Adelaja paced the Boilers at the net with six blocks, while Nichol added four. Junior Amanda Neill pulled up a team-best 13 digs, while Nichol recorded 11 to round out a double double (also 23 assists). The Boilermakers outblocked Minnesota 10-6 and served up four aces in the match.
Purdue raced out to an 8-2 lead in Set 1 and withstood a midset rally by the Gophers en route to a 25-20 win. The Boilers put up three stuffs, including two by Adelaja, in the opening 10 points. Minnesota narrowed the gap to four at 11-7, but kills by Evans and Drews gave Purdue a 14-7 lead midway through. The Golden Gophers called timeout, which sparked a 9-1 run and put them on top 16-15. The Gophers maintained the edge as the teams traded points leading to a 19-18 score. A stuff by Cuttino and Nichol and an ace by Neill sparked a 7-1 Boilermaker run to end the set. Cuttino and Epenesa had four kills apiece and the Boilers put up five blocks in the stanza.
Four more blocks and three-kill efforts by four players helped the Boilers to a 25-22 Set 2 victory. Four different players put down kills and Adelaja served up an ace as Purdue took a 7-4 lead. Minnesota scored four straight to go ahead 8-7. Down 10-9, the Boilermakers kicked off a 4-0 run, which featured an overpass kill and a solo stuff by Evans. Minnesota tied the score at 18-18, but kills from Epenesa, Nichol and Cuttino made it 21-19 Purdue. The Gophers rallied to within one at 23-22, but a stuff by Evans and Adelaja and a Minnesota hitting error wrapped up the set.
Minnesota led early in Set 2, which featured 10 tie scores and three lead changes, before the Boilermakers rallied for the 25-20 win. The Golden Gophers scored four of the first six points, but Purdue rallied to take the lead at 6-5. The teams tied six times over the next 11 points, but the Boilers broke away to go ahead 18-11 with a 7-0 run and Dimke at the service line. Four Minnesota miscues and a Boilermaker stuff forced the Gophers to use both timeouts. The Gophers cut a 21-13 deficit to just four at 21-17. Kills by Nichol and Drews and a UM error made it 24-17. Drews added another putaway four serves later to clinch the sweep. Drews had five kills in the final stanza in which Purdue hit .300 to Minnesota's .139 effort.
The No. 13 Boilermakers (19-5, 9-3 Big Ten) return to action at 7:30 p.m. ET Wednesday when they face off with No. 14 Nebraska in Lincoln live on the Big Ten Network.