Stats / Shondell Quotes / Highlights
MADISON, Wis. -- The No. 17 Boilermakers rallied against No. 12 Wisconsin, but could not pull off the upset Friday night. The Badgers won the match 25-18, 19-25, 25-20, 25-20.
Senior Annie Drews had 18 kills and sophomore Danielle Cuttino added 11 to pace the Boilermaker attack. Redshirt junior Faye Adelaja added eight kills and hit at a .444 clip, while putting up a team-leading five blocks. Senior Sam Epenesa added seven kills, nine digs and two aces.
Defensively, senior Amanda Neill had 16 digs followed by redshirt sophomore Ashley Evans (12) and freshman Alexa Smith (10). Cuttino added four blocks as Purdue outblocked Wisconsin 9-6. The Boilermakers also served up four aces to Wisconsin's one.
The teams split the first eight points of Set 1, before Wisconsin surged ahead by five at 12-7 care of a few Boilermaker miscues. Purdue knotted the score at 12 on a stuff by Adelaja and Epenesa, which capped a 5-0 run. Adelaja and Cuttino also had kills in the rally. Trailing 15-12, Purdue got help from a Wisconsin service error and recorded an ace from Drews to cut the margin to one. A kill by Cuttino kept the Boilermakers close at 19-17, but the Badgers closed out the set with a 6-1 run, including two blocks and three Purdue miscues. Cuttino had three kills in the stanza.
The Boilermakers led Set 2 from start to finish, boasting a seven point edge at 14-7 en route to the 25-19 win. Drews racked up six kills in the set, which also featured three blocks. Back to back stuffs, a solo effort by Stahl and a combined effort by Adelaja and Evans put Purdue up 7-2 early and forced a Wisconsin timeout. Kills by Cuttino, Drews and Epenesa pushed the lead to seven at 14-7 and prompted the Badgers to take another break. UW scored six of the next eight points to cut it to 16-13. Two kills and a block by Cuttino put Purdue ahead 20-15. Up three at 21-18, the Boilermakers closed out the set with three kills from Adelaja in a 4-1 run.
Purdue used an early 4-1 run to go up 7-5 in Set 3 and boasted a three-point edge at 11-8, but Wisconsin rallied with 13 of the next 16 points to go ahead 21-15 en route to a 25-20 win. Purdue rallied late with kills by Drews and Cuttino to cut the margin to four at 21-17 and thwarted a pair of UW set point chances, but couldn't complete the comeback. Drews had seven kills in the set and got a solo stuff from Adeleja, but it was not enough as Wisconsin outhit the Boilermakers .310 to .200.
Wisconsin led 10-5 in Set 4 before the Boilermakers mounted a mid-set comeback. Purdue charged back to within two at 10-8 after kills by Drews and Stahl and a stuff by Cuttino and Drews. Down 15-9, the Boilermakers rallied again with seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 16 on an ace by Lydia Dimke. A kill by Drews and an ace by Epenesa put Purdue ahead 18-17. The Badgers went up 19-18 after back-to-back Purdue miscues. The Boilermakers tied it up at 19, 20 and 21, but a kill and an error put UW up 23-21. A kill by Epenesa prolonged the match, but a kill and a block gave Wisconsin the 25-22 win.
The No. 17 Boilermakers (17-5, 8-3 B1G) return to action at 3 p.m. ET Sunday at No. 4 Minnesota.