Senior Night Ceremony video
Senior Night Highlights
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Wednesday night's 3-0 sweep of Rutgers was all about the Boilermakers' two seniors - KiKi Jones and Val Nichol. The pair led the No. 16 Purdue volleyball team to a 25-16, 25-21, 25-17 victory and was honored in a postgame ceremony.
For her part, Nichol posted a 13-kill, 22-assist, 11-dig triple double, while hitting at a .522 clip, marking her fourth career triple-double, the most by a player in Purdue history. Jones added six kills and a pair of blocks, quietly and efficiently aiding the Boiler offense, while also putting up two blocks.
Helping the team to the Senior Day sweep were junior Sam Epenesa, who added nine kills, freshman Danielle Cuttino, who chipped in seven to go with a team-leading four blocks, junior Annie Drews (5), freshman Azariah Stahl (4) and former classmate redshirt junior Kaisley Fisher (4), who earned her first start since 2012.
Defensively, redshirt sophomore Kate Workman pulled up a match-high 13 digs followed by Nichol (11), junior Amanda Neill (8) and freshman Lydia Dimke (5). Cuttino put up a team-best four blocks, while Drews chipped in three.
Purdue won all statistical categories, outhitting Rutgers .369 to .137, outblocking the Scarlet Knight 6-4 and outdigging them 46 to 36.
After splitting the first eight points of the night, the Boilers jumped ahead by five at 11-6 and never looked back in a 25-16 Set 1 win. Nichol and Fisher had four kills apiece in the stanza, while saw Purdue hit at a .533 clip. A pair of Jones kills, an ace by Dimke and a couple of Rutgers miscues boasted the Boilers to the 11-6 edge. Rutgers cut the margin to four at 16-12, but that sparked a 5-0 Purdue run, including two Nichol putaways and a kill and solo stuff by Jones, to make it 21-12. Two kills by Stahl and a Rutgers service error set up a Fisher putaway that sealed the set at 25-16.
Nichol turned in six more kills and Cuttino put up four stuffs in a 25-21 Set 2 victory. Rutgers led 8-6 early on, but Purdue responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead, one which it would not relinquish. Cuttino had two blocks and a kill and Drews added two kills and a stuff during the rally, which put the Boilers on top 12-8. The Scarlet Knights narrowed the gap to two at 16-14, but Purdue quickly went up 21-16 with help from the senior duo. Rutgers scored four of the next five points, however, to make it a two-point game at 22-20. A stuff by Drews and Cuttino and a Scarlet Knight hitting error put Purdue up 24-20 before an Epenesa putaway ended the stanza at 25-21.
A balanced and efficient attack gave the Boilermakers a 25-17 Set 3 win to secure the sweep. Seven players tallied a kill in the stanza, while the team hit at a .467 clip and limited Rutgers to a .129 effort. Purdue surged ahead 10-5 early as five players got in the offense and Dimke added an ace. Up just three at 11-8, the Boilermakers pulled away with an 8-4 run. A pair of kills by Nichol and four Scarlet Knight miscues aided the effort, which put Purdue ahead 20-12. Kills by redshirt freshman Ashley Evans and Epenesa made it 23-14. Rutgers scored the next three points, but putaways by Cuttino and Drews wrapped up the night.
The No. 16 Boilermakers (22-7, 12-5 Big Ten) return to action at 8 p.m. ET Saturday against Minnesota in Minneapolis.