Final Stats IOWA CITY, Iowa - The No. 12 Boilermakers fell to the Iowa Hawkeyes in four sets on the road Saturday night. The Hawkeyes won the match 25-16, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19 against a Purdue team without the services of leading hitter Annie Drews due to injury.
Senior Val Nichol had a triple double to lead the Boilermakers posting 13 kills, 20 assists and 10 digs. Freshman Azariah Stahl added 13 kills, while freshman Danielle Cuttino and senior KiKi Jones added 10 and nine respectively. Cuttino put up a team-best seven blocks, while junior Sam Epenesa added four stuffs as Purdue outblocked Iowa 11-6.
Defensively, freshman Lydia Dimke pulled up a team-best 12 digs to go with 30 assists, while Nichol added 10 and junior Amanda Neill chipped in eight.
The Boilermakers and Hawkeyes split the first 14 points of the night, but a nine-point mid-set rally helped Iowa to a 25-16 win in Set 1. Purdue held off the first two Hawkeye set-point chances with a kill by Cuttino and a stuff by Cuttino and Nichol, but Iowa finished off the win with a kill by Taylin Alm. Nichol, Stahl and Cuttino had three kills apiece in the stanza.
Iowa led Set 2 early, before the Boilers rallied to lead it 22-20, but the Hawkeyes stole away a 25-23 win. Down 6-1, Purdue scored eight of the next 11 to tie the score at 9-9 after back to back kills by Cuttino. The Hawkeyes led by four at 14-10 and again at 17-13, before the Boilermakers put together a 7-1 run including four kills and a stuff by Cuttino to go up 20-18. A stuff by Cuttino and Epenesa and a kill by Stahl made it 22-20 Boilers, but Iowa capped the set with a 5-1 run.
The Boilermakers kept the match going leading Set 3 nearly start to finish, holding off a late Iowa charge to win 25-23. Nichol and Jones had four kills apiece in the set. Purdue scored first and jumped ahead 6-2. Two kills each by Stahl and Jones pushed the Boiler lead to 12-6. Trailing 16-9, Iowa rallied to within three at 16-13. Up three at 18-15, the Boilermakers scored five of the next seven to extend the lead to 23-17. An Iowa hitting error gave Purdue its first set point chance at 24-19. The Hawkeyes scored the next four points, but a kill by Cuttino wrapped up the stanza at 25-23.
Purdue carried the momentum into Set 4 scoring three of the first four including an ace by Neill, but Iowa tied it up at 6-6 and went on to a 25-19 win. The Boilers called timeout down 9-6 and got kills from Dimke and Cuttino out of the break to narrow the gap to one. The Hawkeyes used an 8-2 run to vault ahead 17-10. An overpass kill by Nichol and stuff block by Jones cut the margin to five, but Iowa went on to a 24-16 advantage. Purdue held off three match point attempts with kills by Nichol and Stahl and a block by Cuttino, but a hitting error ended the night at 25-19. Stahl had six kills in the final stanza.
The No. 12 Boilermakers (19-7, 9-5 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they welcome Maryland to Belin Court to kick off a three-match homestand.