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WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. ââ'¬" The Boilermakers got double-digit kill efforts from three players and gutted out a close fourth set en route to a 3-1 win over Maryland on Saturday night. Purdue won the match 25-19, 18-25, 25-17, 25-23 to move to 4-0 in the Big Ten with a pair of matches against instate rival Indiana on tap next week.
Senior Annie Drews racked up 17 kills, while hitting .353 and narrowly missing a double-double by adding nine digs. Senior Sam Epenesa added 12 kills on a .435 hitting efficiency, while redshirt junior Faye Adelaja chipped in 12 kills with no errors in 15 swings, for a stellar .800 hitting percentage. Sophomore Danielle Cuttino registered eight kills while hitting .538 and putting up a team-best four blocks, including three solo efforts.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill led the way with 13 digs, while Drews added nine and freshman Alexa Smith recorded eight. The Boilermakers hit at a .394 clip, while holding Maryland to a .270 effort, but were outblocked for the first time in 2015, 9.5 to six. The Terrapins also had nine aces on the night to Purdue's three.
Maryland led 8-5 in the early going of Set 1, but the Boilermakers battled back to tie it up at 12, 13 and 14 before taking the lead at 15-14 on a kill by Epenesa. Five different players tallied kills in the rally. The Boilermakers upped the advantage to four at 21-17 forcing the Terps to burn both of their timeouts in the stretch. Kills by Epenesa, Adelaja and Drews lifted Purdue to the lead. A pair of Maryland service errors and an ace by Evans put the Boilers on the hill at 24-19 and Stahl buried a kill to seal the win. Purdue hit at a .577 clip, committing just two errors in the stanza as Epenesa downed five kills and Drews added four.
The Boilermakers led 3-1 in Set 2, but Maryland rallied to go ahead 8-4 and never relinquished the lead. Purdue cut the margin to two at 9-7 and 10-8 but the Terrapins increased the edge to seven at 18-11. Down 19-12, Purdue scored four of the next five including two UM miscues and kills by Stahl and Cuttino to pull within four at 20-16. Maryland answered with four straight points. A kill by Epenesa slowed the Terrapins, but a blocking error and a kill won the set for UM at 25-18. Maryland hit .407 in the set, while Epenesa, Drews and Cuttino registered three kills apiece for the Boilermakers.
The Purdue block came alive in Set 3 with four stuffs as the Boilermakers held Maryland to a .143 hitting effort. On offense, the Boilermakers were nearly flawless with just two errors for a .480 clip. Adelaja was 4-for-4, while Epenesa and Drews chipped in three each without error. Purdue went up 5-3 with kills from four different players. Maryland tied the score at six and went on to take an 8-7 lead. A kill by Adelaja knotted the score kicking off a 6-2 run. Cuttino recorded a solo block , Purdue's first of the night, to make it 11-9 as the Boilermakers rolled on to a 13-10 edge. Maryland tied it up at 14, but Purdue scored six of the next seven to go ahead 20-15 and force the Terrapins to use both timeouts. Adelaja had two kills and two blocks in the run. The Boilermakers scored the final four points in the 25-17 win, capped by a Cuttino block and an ace by Neill.
Maryland led by as many as six in Set 4, but Purdue mounted a late rally and scored six of the final eight points to steal away the stanza and the match. Purdue took its first timeout trailing 7-2 and later stared down an 11-5 deficit. The Boilermakers turned the tide at that point and scored 11 of the next 16 to knot the score at 16. Five Terrapin miscues and a pair of Adelaja kills aided the rally, which was capped by another solo block and a kill by Cuttino. Maryland went up two at 18-16 and the teams split the next 10 points leading to a 23-21 score. A kill by Drews and a Terrapin hitting error tied the score at 23 prompting a UM timeout. Cuttino had a solo block out of the break and Drews finished off the comeback with her 17th kill. Purdue hit .276 in the final set, which featured seven kills by Drews, while holding Maryland to a .152 effort.
The No. 18 Boilermakers (13-2, 4-0 Big Ten) return to action at 7 p.m. Wednesday when they take on Indiana in Bloomington for the Monon Spike travelling trophy.