BATON ROUGE, La. -- The No. 20 Boilermakers spoiled LSU's home opener, using efficient offense and tough net defense to win via three-set sweep Friday night. Purdue won the match 25-10, 25-21, 25-17.
Senior Annie Drews led the offense with 11 kills, while also eight digs, four blocks and the match's lone ace. Sophomore Danielle Cuttino added nine kills and a team-best seven blocks. Redshirt junior Faye Adelaja, who hails from Baton Rouge, and sophomore Azariah Stahl chipped in eight kills apiece.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill pulled up 12 digs, freshman Brooke Peters added 10 and redshirt sophomore setter Ashley Evans managed nine. At the net, Cuttino had seven blocks, including two solo efforts, while Drews added four and Adelaja and Evans put up three each. As a team, Purdue outhit LSU .266 to .024.
The Boilermakers rolled to a 25-10 Set 1 win behind six kills from Drews and four blocks, including the game winner. Up just one at 6-5, Purdue rattled off seven straight points, including two kills from Epenesa and a block and a kill by Evans, to go up 13-5. The Boilermakers put together a six-point run to turn a 16-8 lead into a 22-8 margin. LSU stopped the rally with two points, but a kill by Adelaja, an ace by Drews and a stuff by Adelaja and Evans wrapped up the 25-10 win.
Stahl and Cuttino put down five kills apiece as the Boilermakers held off a late LSU rally for a 25-21 win. Purdue raced out to a 7-2 lead as four different players chalked up kills. The Tigers turned the tables with a seven-point run to go ahead 9-7 and force a Purdue timeout. The Boilermakers scored eight of the next 11 out of the break, including four kills and a block by Cuttino, to take a 15-12 lead. Purdue upped the margin to seven points at 21-14, forcing LSU to burn both of its timeouts, as Stahl caught fire with three kills. LSU narrowed the gap to two at 22-20, but the Boilermakers finished off the set with kills from Stahl and Drews and a final stuff from Cuttino and Evans.
Adelaja, Cuttino and Smith added three kills each as Purdue closed out the match with a 25-17 Set 3 win. The Boilermakers also posted four blocks in the set, three from Cuttino. The teams split the first 12 points of the stanza. An LSU block put the Tigers ahead 7-6, but that just sparked an 8-0 Purdue run. Cuttino had two kills and a block as the Boilermakers surged ahead 14-7. A trio of LSU miscues and two stuffs from Cuttino upped the Purdue edge to 10 points at 21-11. A block by Cuttino and freshman Alexa Smith and a kill from Smith set up the Boilermakers' first match-point attempt at 24-15. A pair of Tiger kills kept the match going, before Purdue subbed in redshirt senior Kaisley Fisher, who promptly planted the final kill of the night.
The Boilermakers (6-1) return to action at 6 p.m. ET Saturday against Miami (Fla.).