MADISON, Wis. - The No. 19 Boilermaker volleyball team rallied from behind several times against the No. 2 Wisconsin Badgers, but could not overcome the Big Ten champions, falling 3-0. Wisconsin claimed the outright Big Ten title with a the 25-18, 25-19, 25-15 win.
Junior Annie Drews led all hitters with 16 kills , while junior Sam Epenesa added seven kills. Four other Boilermakers contributed two kills or more: redshirt freshman Ashley Evans (3), senior Val Nichol (2), senior KiKi Jones (2) and redshirt sophomore Faye Adelaja (2).
Defensively, Evans and junior Amanda Neill pulled up 13 digs apiece. Redshirt sophomore Kate Workman chipped in eight saves, while Drews and Nichol added six apiece and Epenesa registered five. At the net, Nichol, Evans and Jones each were credited with three blocks.
The Boilermakers rallied in the middle of the first set, slicing an eight-point deficit to two, but could not overcome the Badgers, falling 25-18. Drews put down six kills to pace Purdue. Down 12-4 early in the stanza, Purdue put together a 6-0 run including three blocks to pull within two at 12-10. Wisconsin pushed the edge back to six at 17-11, but the Boilermakers scored five of the next seven to make it 20-17. Two kills by Drews and a stuff by Jones and Evans aided the rally. The Badgers kept Purdue from completing the comeback with a 5-1 run to end the set.
Wisconsin jumped out to a big lead to start Set 2 and held off a mid-set rally by the Boilermakers to win it 25-19. Drews added six kills and Epenesa chipped in three in the set. The Badgers led it 14-5 before Purdue mounted a 7-1 run, including three Drews putaways and four UW miscues. Wisconsin called timeout and scored five of the next six points out of the break to go ahead 20-13. The Boilers countered with three of the next four on kills by Epenesa, Drews and Evans. A pair of UW errors had Purdue within five at 23-18, but Wisconsin won the set on their second set-point opportunity.
After playing close for the first half of Set 3, the Badgers pulled away for a 25-15 win to claim the match and the outright Big Ten title. Trailing 4-1, kills by Adelaja and Nichol pulled the Boilers within one. Down 7-3, Purdue rallied to within two at 7-5 and 8-6 with a stuff by the pair and a kill by Evans. The Boilermakers kept it close, The Boilermakers were down just three at 12-9 after a kill by Epenesa, but Wisconsin scored seven of the next 10 to pull away at 19-12. Putaways by Drews and Evans stopped the rally at 19-14, but the Badgers had their first set point attempt at 24-14. A stuff by Jones and Evans thwarted the chance, but a kill by Courtney Thomas ended the night.
The No. 19 Boilermakers (22-10, 12-8 Big Ten) will finish in fifth place in the Big Ten Conference and must now await their postseason fate, which will be announced during the NCAA Selection Show at 8:30 p.m. Sunday on ESPNU.