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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- More than 6,200 fans packed into Mackey Arena to see the No. 22 Boilermakers battle Notre Dame on Saturday night and they were treated to a lights-out performance by senior Annie Drews as Purdue beat the Irish 3-1 to claim the Boiler Box Challenge title. The Boilermakers won the match 25-12, 24-26, 28-26, 25-16.
Drews racked up 29 kills on 64 swings, while hitting at a .312 clip, and registering her 1,000th career kill late in Set 2 to become the 25th Boilermaker player to reach the milestone and the first since Ariel Turner (2009-12). Seven other players tallied a kill in the match, including sophomore Danielle Cuttino (9), sophomore Lydia Dimke (6), sophomore Azariah Stahl (5) and redshirt senior Kaisley Fisher (5).
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill paced the backcourt with 23 digs to go with her six assists and an ace. Redshirt sophomore setter Ashley Evans added 18 digs to go with 50 assists, four kills and two blocks. Freshmen Brooke Peters and Alexa Smith tallied 10 digs apiece. At the net, Cuttino put up a team-leading five stuffs. Smith and senior Kate Workman each served up two of Purdue's six aces.
The Boilermakers outhit Notre Dame .278 to .151 and outdug the Irish 76 to 57.
Neill was named tournament MVP for her efforts, while Drews and Dimke earned all-tournament team honors alongside Sam Fry (Notre Dame), Kelly Hopkins (Ball State) and Sydney Dimke and Kelsey Biltoft (South Dakota).
Drews got hot early, putting down six of Purdue's 16 kills in the opening set, while four other players chipped in at least two putaways, as the Boilermakers cruised to a 25-12 win. The team hit at a .538 clip, committing just two errors, while holding Notre Dame to a .077 effort. The Irish scored two of the first three points, but the Boilermakers got two kills from Cuttino and help from two UND miscues to turn that around into a 6-3 lead of their own. A service error made it 6-4, but that only sparked Purdue to score nine of the next 11 to go up 15-6. Drews pounded down four kills in the rally. The Boilermakers upped the advantage to 13 at 23-10 after an ace by Workman and back-to-back kills by Dimke. A kill by Fisher made it 24-12 and an Irish miscue finished the stanza at 25-12.
Notre Dame raced out to a 7-1 lead in Set 2 and held the lead until the final six points, before finishing off a 26-24 win. Purdue narrowed the gap to three at 12-9 as Stahl downed three kills and Dimke added a pair. Down six again at 17-11, the Boilermakers again mounted a comeback, scoring seven of the next nine points. The Irish spread the lead to three at 22-19, but Purdue rattled off four straight points, including two Drews kills, one from Cuttino and an ace by Neill, which put the Boilermakers up 23-22. A pair of kills gave Notre Dame its first set point chance at 24-23. A kill by Drews thwarted the effort, but a service error and a kill squelched the Purdue comeback.
Set 3 featured eight ties, five lead changes and nine set point attempts as Purdue held on to win it 28-26. The teams split the first 18 points but the Boilermakers surged ahead with a 7-2 run including an ace by Peters and four Irish miscues. Purdue upped the margin to eight at 22-14 on an ace by Workman, and got its first set point chance at 24-17 after a kill by Drews. Notre Dame scored eight straight to fight of seven Purdue set-point attempts and gain one of their own at 25-24. Two Boilermaker miscues and two aces aided the comeback. Drews kept the set going with her seven kill of the stanza. An Irish kill gave the Irish another shot at the win, but Cuttino pounded down a kill. Evans added another and a solo stuff by Smith sealed the 28-26 win.
Notre Dame scored the first four points of Set 4 and led it 9-7 before the Boilermakers were able to turn the tables with a four-point run of their own. Two kills by Drews, one by Cuttino and a hitting error put Purdue up 11-9. The Irish tied it up at 11 and 12, but the Boilermakers finished off the set on a 13-4 run. Fisher tallied two blocks to start the final rally. Drews added three kills, while Cuttino, Smith and senior Sam Epenesa also got in on the offensive action. Smith served up a pair of aces to clinch the Purdue victory at 25-16 and the four-set win.
The No. 22 Boilermakers (9-2) return to action at 7 p.m. Friday against Michigan in Ann Arbor, Mich., to kick off Big Ten play.